Love Bite
by Here'sTo
Summary: Bella gets a little too rough during a play fight with Alice, which has some unexpected consequences. But in hindsight, she really should have known that vampires would consider biting a a turn on.
1. Chapter 1

_**Warnings: Mild language. Not smut, surprisingly. It actually even starts out pretty fluffy. I can't believe I wrote something that could be placed out of the M section. **_

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Bella was calmly doing homework in her bed when she heard a light tapping at her window. She cocked her head to the side and glanced over at it, a slight thrill going through her. She recognized the sound for the amount of times that she had heard it before. It could only mean one thing.

There was a vampire at her window.

Either Edward, her boyfriend, or his adoptive sister, Alice, was rapping their knuckles against her winter frosted window pane and the thought made her grin. Although, she couldn't help but frown slightly a moment later. She wasn't in the mood to deal with Edward after the fight they'd had that day, and plus, she looked forward to any moment she got to spend with the pixie like girl who was quickly becoming her best friend. They didn't get to hang out much at school because they shared no classes and they didn't get to hang out much at the Cullen home because Edward monopolized most of her time when she was there, but still, somehow, the tiny vampire had wormed her way into Bella's heart and settled in to stay.

So filled with a curious mix of excitement and apprehension, she tossed her Algebra textbook off to the side, rolled out of her bed and jogged to her locked window, slightly confused when she didn't see the usual form of one of those vampires perched on the sill outside. Furrowing her brow, she unlatched the lock and pushed it up, shuddering at the blast of cold air that hit her a second later as she peered into the darkness of her backyard.

"Edward? Alice?" she called out uncertainly.

Maybe it had been a branch from the oak tree scaling the side of her house blowing in the wind? It wouldn't be the first time she'd gotten her hopes up over nothing because of that stupid tree.

"_Boo_."

Bella squealed like an honest to God little girl and careened backwards as a pale face popped up right in front of hers. She flailed back a few feet and then fell back on her butt with a thud and a grunt, scowling at the sound of bell like laughter that rang out a second later.

Little minx!

"Alice!" she barked, but a second later said vampire's hands locked onto her window sill and then Alice had launched herself into the room like an acrobat. She turned her body end over end in the air, a blur, and hit the floor in front of Bella with a graceful roll.

Bella gasped as bright golden eyes met hers, centimeters away, matched with a straight edge, playful grin bordering on a smirk.

"Hi," Alice beamed and promptly kissed her right cheek which the mortified brunette felt flare with a blush instantly as tingles raced from the spot where her lips touched.

She then stood, twirled on her toes and leaped into Bella's bed, settling in comfortably a moment later, making herself quite at home.

Well. Nobody could say that Alice Cullen didn't know how to make an entrance.

"Y-you-You-" Bella spluttered, struggling to get to her feet, indignant and embarrassed and totally awed by her friend's audacity.

Any ire Bella felt, however, was extinguished instantaneously at the playful look of innocence, of feigned ignorance on Alice's face and the twinkle that gave away the pixie's game in her pretty amber eyes. She grinned back helplessly.

"You _jerk_," she deadpanned and Alice smiled that million watt smile, the one that crinkled her adorable nose up and made her positively glow as they both burst into laughter.

Alice really was something.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist once the temptation hit me," the vampire admitted as Bella plopped down onto the bed next to her, trying and failing to give her the stink eye. It's hard to glare at someone so painfully cute, and how could anyone ever even try and be mad at Alice?

To Bella, it was impossible.

"You're just a show off," Bella retorted good-naturedly, shoving Alice's shoulder gently, which had about as much of an effect as shoving a boulder would do. "No, but seriously, that was pretty badass," she admitted a moment later. There was no use denying it. Even though Alice had scared the mess out of her, there was no denying how spectacular Alice had looked flipping through the air like that.

She laughed, though, when Alice immediately preened, her ego stroked.

"I know. I _am_ kind of a boss," she boasted jokingly, popping the collar of her no doubt designer, thin black plaid jacket, the one with the brass buttons she loved so much.

_What a dork_, Bella thought fondly.

"A boss at being _lame_," Bella replied loftily and giggled at the look of mock outrage that Alice shot her, complete with a dropped jaw and girlish scoff.

She shivered a little at the sight of two small white fangs that peeked out and winked at her from Alice's pretty upper pink lip. The brunette had always had a mild fascination with vampire's fangs, the way they accented the insides of their mouths and how dangerously sharp they seemed. She shifted a bit on the bed and hoped Alice didn't mind the curious look she sent them.

"Please! That was an Olympic worthy front flip! A solid ten!" she protested, comically acting genuinely offended.

"Meh. It seemed more like a six or a seven to me," Bella feigned apathy, sitting up on her side and propping her head in her hand, truly enjoying their game.

This was what she loved about Alice. The girl could simply pop in on an otherwise boring and plain Jane night and within seconds make it exciting and fun.

"A _six_ or a _seven_? Maybe to a blind man!" Alice snorted, her eyes twinkling as she sat up on the bed and turned to face Bella, sitting cross legged in a pair of impossibly tight skinny jeans.

"I think there's something offensive somewhere in that statement," the brunette pointed out, cocking an eyebrow when Alice only smirked and rolled her eyes.

"There's something offensive somewhere in your face," Alice said, a breath taking laugh leaving her a second later as Bella was now the one faking offense.

"Oh, _good_ one," she huffed, sitting up a second later and matching Alice's Indian style position.

"Like your mom," Alice added and they both burst into a fit of immature giggles at how seriously she said it.

"You're a hundred and eight years old and still making 'your face' and 'your mom' jokes?" Bella cringed though her face felt like it was going to split from smiling so much. "You need some new material."

"I'm a hundred and eight years old and still burning you like a firecracker, baby doll," Alice sing-songed, winking at her with one gorgeous golden eye framed by long black lashes. "Speaking of material, what the hell are you studying anyway?"

She had picked up Bella's Algebra textbook and was eyeing it distastefully.

"Algebra," Bella replied.

"Gross," Alice wrinkled her nose with disgust and tossed it over her shoulder as one might toss a wadded up piece of paper.

"Hey! I need that!" she protested, lunging for it but only coming up short when Alice got in her way and kept her from suicidally diving over the bed for it, laughing merrily the whole time.

Clearly, Alice was in one of those moods. She was hyper, and had no interest in sitting still or calmly chit chatting. Bella should have known that the second the girl came flying into her room. She didn't mind, in fact, she loved when Alice was like this, a joyous beacon of light. She had the ability to put Bella in a good mood so easily, even though she did begin wrestling with Alice's arms in defense of an Algebra book she didn't actually care for.

"Algebra is for weenies," Alice stated matter-of-factly, snickering when Bella struggled uselessly with their flailing limbs, on her knees and trying to overpower the pixie who calmly continued to sit cross legged, unmoved.

"_You're_ a weenie!" Bella gasped back, squealing when Alice suddenly lurched forward and then they were full out wrestling around on her bed, sending homework and textbooks flying everywhere.

It didn't matter that Alice was a hundred times stronger and that there was no way Bella could ever beat her. She still played around like a good sport, pretending to let Bella get the upper hand as they rolled around and kicked out, shrieking, grunting and laughing loudly the whole time.

"You weren't saying that when your eyes were all big and starry eyed after I rolled up in your face!" Alice shouted over Bella's muffled and hilariously muttered insults which ranged anywhere from a childish 'butthead' to a playful 'bitch'. She suddenly used her incredible strength and rolled on top of the brunette, making her yelp loudly.

"Starry eyed?" Bella gasped as Alice parried away her grasping hands and grinned triumphantly as the human girl squirmed uselessly with the vampire perched on her lap. "I was _not_ starry eyed!"

Normally, Bella would have been wary of rolling around with any vampire like this. It was too easy to set off their instincts sometimes, but usually when Alice was in a mood like this, she was totally in control. Her eyes remained a shimmering, melted buttery yellow and she showed no signs of strain despite Bella's hands flinging around in her face.

And besides, she was having way too much fun messing around like this to even think about that crap. (Let alone her Algebra homework. Alice was right. That stuff was _so_ for weenies.) It was incredible how easily Alice made her smile, how quickly she put Bella in a great mood.

"You were _so_ starry eyed. Big, brown doe eyes all moony and impressed with my acrobatics," Alice grinned, effortlessly batting Bella's hands away and keeping her hips pinned with two strong, toned thighs.

"I was _not_!" Bella scoffed back, panting from all the effort of wrestling with a vampire. She knew Alice could stop her swinging arms whenever she felt like it, but damn it if that was going to stop her from trying.

"Were too. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you practically fell in love with me right then and there," Alice pronounced, finally catching hold of Bella's wrists and pinning them, smirking down on the brunette a moment later.

At her words and finally being fully submitted, Bella's breath hitched as she peered up at her friend, chest heaving from being out of breath. She tensed, pressing her lips together tightly as she finally got a good look at Alice after having the girl sit still for the first time since she'd gotten here.

Alice was smiling serenely down on her, eyes full of mirth and an immeasurable amount of joy that only she could get out of simply being alive; that is, if vampires were technically alive. Alice certainly made a good argument for that case, because nothing about her seemed dead. Even ice cold and pale, she radiated warmth and light that left Bella lightheaded.

_What an incredible girl_, she thought dazedly, breathing in heavily as they fell into a mildly comfortable and at the same time, tense silence.

"And you know what else?" Alice's voice suddenly broke that silence with a soft whispers and she lowered her face down to Bella's. She was so close that the brunette knew she should feel as if her personal space bubble was being invaded, but from the moment she'd met Alice, she had relinquished any idea of that bubble existing because Alice was as touchy as touchy comes and just as affectionate.

And though they'd always had a pretty platonic, physical friendship considering Alice's loving nature, something about the way Alice peered down into her eyes, close enough that if Bella leaned up just a little, their lips might just-

Well, it felt different in a way that made Bella hold her breath and her belly flip with anxiety, with nerves, and maybe something else that she couldn't quite place.

"What?" she breathed back, surprised at how soft her own voice sounded. She couldn't deny her own bewildering desperate desire just to hear what Alice might say next.

She breathed in sharply, however, when she glimpsed those two dainty white fangs when Alice smiled a wide smile.

"The tickle monster just arrived."

Oh shit.

Oh no, not the tickle monster. Anything but that.

Bella's eyes flew wide open and then she squealed when Alice released her wrists and impossibly fast hands flew to her ribcage, flying up and down as quickly as they could go, and for a vampire, that was very, very quickly. Whatever weird spell she'd been under was broken instantly.

"Oh my god-oh my g-god, A-_Alice_, quit it! Stop it! Stop!" Bella was reduced to laughing so hard that tears streamed down her face in seconds as she bucked up and shrieked, flailing at the blurs that were Alice's maddeningly dexterous fingers.

"Say Uncle!" Alice yelled over her screaming, riding out Bella's frantic movements that would have knocked another human out cold with how hard she kicked and punched out.

"No way!" Bella hiccupped back, her voice stuttering with her laughter. Alice brought out her competitive nature like nobody's business, and this was no exception.

But Jesus, she was _dying_. She could barely breathe as Alice's hands flew up and down her most sensitive spots, playing her like a piano as she hit all the right keys to drive Bella's nerves through the roof.

Tickling was the devil, of that she was sure.

"Come on, Bells, just say it and I'll quit!" Alice sing-songed ruthlessly.

Nope.

Bella jerked up as hard as she could, her fingers clawing at Alice's firm shoulders, knowing she couldn't hurt the vampire. She gasped for breath, face wet with tears and Alice only giggled into her ear. Somehow Bella found herself sitting Alice's lap as the girl leaned back with her, fingers still pushing buttons that drove the brunette mad with the need to get away from those damning fingers.

"Alice-"

Bella grit her teeth, swearing under what little breath she had left.

Oh god, she couldn't take it. Alice was going to kill her by tickling.

She had to do something, anything but say Uncle.

A spark of insanity flashed inside her head, an instinctive attack that Bella really should have though through a little more. She had no weapons as her nails were obviously useless, digging into the space between Alice's shoulder blades worthlessly.

So without warning, the brunette sank her teeth _hard_ into the spot where Alice's neck met her shoulder, her teeth scraping along soft skin that was draped over muscle as hard as granite.

In hindsight, Bella really should have known that vampires would consider biting an aphrodisiac.

The effect was automatic. Alice gasped, a high pitched noise and sort of jerked her head to the side, away from Bella's clamped down teeth. Her palms splayed out against Bella's ribs as the brunette's chest heaved, fighting for air.

Right then and there, Bella became aware of their actual positions.

Her face was being tickled by Alice's soft, ebony black hair. She was surrounded by a naturally alluring vampiric scent of icy sweet and the pixie's own personal intoxicating aroma of strawberry shampoo and the forest in which her family dwelled. Her arms were wrapped tight around the vampire and her legs were slung over either side of her hips, thighs pressed into the curve of her waist.

Most of all, Bella realized with a flaming blush that their breasts were pressed together and even though it was winter outside, Charlie always cranked the heat during this season and so she was wearing nothing but a thin baby blue cotton t shirt and a pair of shorts that barely reached mid thigh.

And no bra.

No bra, so that the fabric of her shirt and Alice's jacket pressed intimately into her and her nipples were literally rock hard, aroused by the coolness of the pixie's body even through their clothing.

Oh god.

Everything about this was suddenly crossing the line, so intimate that an inappropriate thrill shot through the brunette and she whimpered, screwing her eyes shut to fight it off.

"_Bella_," Alice's voice was a high pitched, breathless moan that lit her body on fire and made the hairs on the back of her neck fly up.

Oh shit.

Oh god.

This was a mistake. A great big stupid mistake.

She probably should stop biting the other girl now, considering how absolutely stone still the vampire had gone.

With a muffled yip of regret and shame, Bella reared back, releasing the iron grip her teeth had on Alice's neck. With total embarrassment, she saw a bright red bite mark ringing Alice's neck, glistening faintly from her saliva.

"Alice, oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I totally wasn't thinking-" Bella sat back in Alice's lap, her hands squeezing the other girl's shoulders apologetically as she tried to make eye contact with her.

This turned out to be a tactical error.

Alice's previously calm canary yellow eyes had become a startlingly deep, midnight black. Her pupils were dilated and the open expression she'd had before had become _hungry_. They locked gazes, Bella cutting herself off with a gasp at the sight of her friend's transformation. Alice still remained eerily still, her hands fisting Bella's shirt tightly.

"_Bella_," Alice growled out, her voice guttural and low. A tremor wracked Bella's frame and she tensed at the subtle warning lacing that unfathomably enticing tone of voice.

_I really messed up_, she realized and was proven right when Alice suddenly exploded back into action. Without a second to comprehend, Alice grabbed her by the hips and jerked them forward, sending Bella's back flying to the mattress with a _thump_.

There was absolutely no reason for that to be erotic. In fact, it should have been downright terrifying, considering she had clearly just stepped all over Alice's instincts.

But it wasn't and that left Bella mortified and confused and oddly a little bit desperate.

"You _bit_ me," Alice's tone was accusatory, and Bella blushed brightly, the blood rushing to her cheeks in shame.

"Alice…Calm down…Please…" she murmured, trying to pry her eyes away from Alice's swirling ones. Two slender, powerful hands pressed into the pillow on either side of her head and once more the pixie girl's face was too close for comfort, too close to be anything but something _more_.

How quickly Bella had turned their playful romping into something so deadly.

"You _bit_ me," Alice reiterated, her cool sweet breath puffing over Bella's lips.

Alice's blatant restating of the obvious only served to string Bella a little tighter up in the noose she'd hung for herself by being an idiot.

"I know, I didn't mean to and I'm sorry-"

Alice clenched her eyes shut and seemed to be struggling with herself as a low rumble started up in her chest and she seemed to pull away a little, lean back in, pull back again and finally her eyes snapped open, boring into Bella's so hard that the human shuddered visibly.

_Oh my god_, she thought.

And oh my god was right.

"Fuck, you smell soo _good_," Alice mewled. "Bella, you smell so _good_."

Without warning, Alice grabbed her chin in one hand, pushed her head back, and then Jesus _Christ_, her tongue was licking a long, cool stripe from the hollow of Bella's collarbone, up her bobbing throat, and finally flicked teasingly over the tip of her chin.

Apparently, biting did crazy things to vampires, because Alice had definitely lost it.

"Alice! Alice what-" Electricity coursed from the length of her neck and shot down to the core of her belly, making everything inside Bella feel warm, fuzzy and aroused. Her toes curled and she whined without her own permission, clutched at Alice's slender shoulders desperately.

_Oh god, oh god, I really stepped in it this time_, she thought. _Oh hell, what if she _bites_ me?_

Alice growled again, appeared right in her face, their noses brushing, their lips less than a centimeter away, and their eyes locked together like magnets. A rush of fear and anxiety shot through her, making her tremble as Alice looked at her with eyes that were wild and far from the superb control she'd illustrated before.

Bella knew it was going to happen before it did. She could have resisted, twisted her head to the side, screamed, anything.

But she didn't.

And she had no clue why.

Alice's cool lips pressed to hers with a hungry moan. It was a hard but impossibly languid, delicious kiss that Bella could only whimper into as the vampire laid her body flat out along her own, pressing their chests together again and making her keen.

_Oh god, I'm kissing _Alice Cullen_!_ Bella's brain screamed as Alice groaned against her, moved her lips with hunger and need that made the brunette's stomach drop. She could feel every inch of Alice pressed against her, wanted to die at the jolts of pleasure her vibrating chest ignited in her. For one brief, intense moment, she could barely believe how good it felt to kiss her best friend.

At the first lick of Alice's cool tongue across her sensitive bottom lip, however, reality slapped her in the face.

She was kissing _Alice Cullen_.

Alice.

Her best friend.

Edward's sister.

Oh, _crap_.

"Alice, stop!" she cried and with an amazing display of willpower, ripped her lips away from Alice's incredibly firm, soft ones, her head spinning as the vampire's pheromones floated in the air and her scent shrouded Bella in bliss.

She was rewarded with a frustrated growl and she shook fearfully when she looked up again and saw just how far gone her friend was.

Alice was shaking with dark eyes, her upper lip curled back in a snarl. Her fangs no longer invoked curiosity but anxiety in the brunette.

Because now there was a good chance Alice might put those bad boys to use.

"Alice, _stop_," Bella repeated, her voice cracking pitifully, revealing her fear for the first time.

At the sound of Bella's voice cracking, clearly frightened, Alice seemed to recover slightly. She shook herself as if waking from a dream, looked down on Bella as if she didn't remember quite how they'd gotten in this position. She reached for her neck and her fingers brushed the bite mark Bella's teeth had left imprinted in her marble skin.

"Shit. Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Bella, I'm so sorry!"

In a flash, Alice was flying off of her, blurring off the bed with her hand still clasped to the spot where Bella had bitten her. To the brunette's astonishment, Alice actually staggered to the window. It was a stark contrast to the way she'd entered, the way she even moved normally. Alice never tripped, never did anything but float gracefully through the world.

But there she was, stumbling to Bella's still open window, wild eyed and frantic.

"Alice, wait, I-" Bella scrambled up, nerves still painfully sensitive –and as much as Bella couldn't believe it, _aroused_- and sort of lurched towards her friend, concern and worry overriding her fear or confusion.

But it was too late.

"I can't, Bella, I've gotta go. I've gotta go, I'm sorry, so sorry, I have to get out of here," Alice gasped, barely able to even turn and look over her shoulder at the brunette in her desperation to be gone.

"But Alice-"

"I'm sorry." And with that Alice slid feet first out of her window, gripping her shoulder all the while and disappeared into the night as fast as the human girl could blink.

And all Bella could think as she stood half on her bed and half off it, cold, _aroused_ and out of her mind with confusion and anxiety, was that she really should have just said Uncle.

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_**I don't know if I want this to be a story or stay a oneshot. Guess it just depends on how I feel later. **_


	2. Chapter 2

**_So I know this took forever, and I'm sorry. I was dealing with the end of school, exams and all that. It's a real pain, honestly and took all my attention. And then when I actually started writing this, it was so hard to get it together. I don't know why. And then there's the pressure of getting such a ridiculous amount of reviews, favorites, and alerts and having to live up to those expectations, and I don't feel like I have. _**

**_So I guess, if you like it, let me know. I'm getting to the point where I hate everything I write and I'll probably just scrap this story if nobody is really into it anymore because it'll prove to me that I'm not writing well. I'll probably scrap the majority of my other stories too, which is something I've been contemplating for a while now because most of them are useless porn with no meaning. _**

**_Warnings are the same as ever, just language. Gosh, I'm still able to keep this T rated, too. _**

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For a solid week after the incident she saw and heard nothing of Alice. Her friend did not come to school and did not drop by to see her, leaving a dull, miserable ache of shame settled over her heavy heart. Not to mention that was probably the worst time for that to occur, because that was when Bella needed her best friend the most.

Things with Edward had only gotten worse after their first fight. Bella half the time couldn't even tell what they were fighting about, only that he was being an absolute jackass. She got the main idea to be something about him wanting to leave for _two_ entire _months_ and go to Alaska to visit his 'friend' Tanya.

Who he'd once dated.

Two months to see his _ex_.

Why in the hell did he think she was being unreasonable about this?

Every time Bella asked him about why he suddenly wanted to up and leave her completely for two months to go see her, he would skirt the answer and start a fight.

And Bella was so sick and tired of it.

They had finally reached the breaking point, and Bella was mildly turning over drastic measures in her head to finally get some definitive answers or-or she didn't even know what. Break up with him? The thought was definitely there because he was proving himself to be a truly shitty boyfriend at that point. But she didn't really think she could. She still loved him, but now he was making her wonder why.

But, of course, that was not the only thing once more keeping her from really focusing on studying Algebra on a school night.

To be honest, she missed Alice dearly.

The girl was literally the highlight of her day at school half the time, constantly a diamond in the rough on otherwise dreary days and nights. Plus, she and Alice just clicked. Whether they were staying up all night discussing deep subjects like love, theology, and even utterly random crap like the benefits of abstract art versus realism, or being goofy and cracking each other up with their shenanigans, Alice was so easy to talk to.

Even if some of those shenanigans had ended quite badly last time.

Bella felt awful for having bitten her friend. And stupid. Quite stupid, actually. She should have known better than to bite a _vampire_. Of _course_ it would set of Alice's instincts. And she also felt dumb for wrestling around with her like that in the first place, which no doubt didn't help the girl's control in the end. Alice had a hard enough time clamping down on her blood lust when everyone knew Bella was the best smelling human to walk this side of Forks, Washington, and adding even a modicum of…Of, well, sexuality to that was only bound to make it worse.

Bella felt her cheeks flame.

Okay…She wasn't a homophobe by any means, but it was no secret that Alice was bisexual. The girl had been open about it from day one, discussing girls as naturally as she discussed boys, and Bella never even blinked about it.

But, it was different now.

It was different now that she'd spurred Alice into _kissing_ her.

God…Even thinking about it send a shiver up her spine that Bella desperately tried to ignore. She wasn't surprised that the action stirred a hunger in her that she never should have been feeling for her friend, especially when they both had boyfriends but she didn't believe it was her fault.

Or at least, that's what she told herself.

Vampire pheromones do crazy things to not only their owners, but to the humans they're designed to attract, and they certainly didn't differentiate between genders and were completely unrestrained by societal boundaries like sexuality. After all, what better way to capture your prey than by turning them on and making them come right to you? And what predator would actually deign to half their pool of prey based on something as ultimately inconsequential as gender?

Bella squirmed uncomfortably in her bed thinking about it, remembering the way Alice had stiffened when Bella's teeth scraped her shoulder, the black look of _desire_ that pulsated in the vampire's eyes, the way her tongue had literally dragged a wet path from her collarbone up the underside of her throat, leaving a path of electricity coursing in its wake before it flicked provocatively off her chin-

Thankfully, she was broken out of _those_ particular musings by a soft, familiar tapping at her window. (Were her cheeks on fire? They kind of felt like it…) She'd been staring at her algebra book for a minute straight thinking about it, which only served to make her already bright red face even brighter. She snapped it shut quickly, smothering the line of thought she'd been previously pursuing.

Exhilaration flooded her mixed with a palpable sense of anxiety. No way was it Edward, not after their most recent fight which had ended with raised voices and slammed doors…

No, this had to be _Alice._

It was as if her thoughts had called out to her best friend and summoned her to reconcile their issues, and so nervously, she stood and crossed the floor to her window. Now was the best chance to apologize, probably as soon as she opened the window, before Alice could get a chance to like, cut of their friendship or something because she now thought Bella was weird or, or maybe into her like that which she totally wasn't and wait, was that even a possibility? Would Alice actually not want to be her friend now?

A mild sense of panic twisted in the pit of her stomach at the thought. Alice had been avoiding her for a solid week now. Maybe this was a bigger deal than she'd thought. Who was she kidding? Of _course_ it was, they'd freaking kissed and Bella had bitten her friend and now things were all screwed up-

_Breathe_, she told herself and yanked up the glass pane, peering out into the darkness.

"Alice?" she called uncertainly, suddenly wary of Alice taking the chance to scare her again when she saw only the night surrounding her back yard. Though she welcomed the friendly intent that would undoubtedly accompany such a maneuver and prove that Alice wasn't still mad at her, she didn't fancy being knocked on her ass again like a dweeb.

"Excuse me! Please move, Bella! _Watch_ it!" a high, familiar voice called to her, bewilderingly hidden with its owner.

Except, Alice _did_ knock her on her ass again, only for a different reason this time.

Bella had just enough time to spy a small figure stirring in the tree next to her window before said figure _launched_ towards her. She careened backwards with a shriek and landed flat on her back as Alice came vaulting off a tree branch and into her room.

"Shit!" she vaguely heard the pixie swear and yelped when the blur that was Alice crashed down on top of her, an iron knee knocking into her thigh painfully and then-

Oh.

_Oh_.

Bella blinked and let out a muffled mew of pain and surprise as she suddenly got an eyeful of Alice's cleavage that jerked to a stop only a millimeter from making contact with her face.

Well.

Well okay, that was…

That was just fine then.

"Oh, ow," Alice mumbled, shifting on top of her human friend and Bella's face burned hot as certain _assets_ were shuffled shamelessly about barely centimeters from her face.

"Alice," she squeaked.

Previous musings came rushing back in the form of flashbacks that were _so_ not appropriate after everything that had happened.

Images of Alice with black eyes, baring her fangs, a long, lithe tongue against Bella's throat…

And Bella felt suddenly too warm, her eyes helplessly locked on Alice's chest, trying desperately to look at the lines of her collarbone and not her boobs, never her boobs, totally not looking at her boobs-

She looked.

Damn it.

Why did she look? She had no idea; maybe it was kind of like when you tried not to think about something and then that ended up being the only thing you could think about.

"Oh, shit, Bella I'm so sorry! I'm such a klutz, are you okay?" Alice gasped and reared back quickly, shuffling back off of her friend a bit with golden eyes wide in concern.

Okay, hold on a second. Alice was _never_ a klutz.

And when her breasts weren't dangling provocatively in Bella's face and making her remember things she shouldn't be remembering at such a time, the brunette could actually sort of comprehend what just happened. _That_ happened to be Alice's less than graceful entrance, and that was _definitely_ not like her friend. Since when was Alice anything but coordinated, graceful, and completely fluid in her movements?

"I think you broke my leg," she croaked out, wincing and rubbing at the dead leg Alice had given her as she sat up. It was supposed to come off as a joke, but considering everything that had happened and the less than helpful way Alice had come surging into her room and shoved her chest in Bella's face, she came off squeaky and mildly accusatory.

"Oh my god, really? Are you serious? How badly does it hurt? Oh hell, Bella, I'm so sorry, let me see-" Alice began to babble as panic crossed her face and she immediately sank down onto her knees, one on either side of Bella's calf. Bewildered and mildly alarmed at the genuine look of distress on Alice's face, Bella could only blink rapidly as her vampiric friend tentatively began to prod at her bruised thigh. All the blood that had rushed to the brunette's face when she'd gotten an eyeful of Alice's cleavage came rushing back as nimble, slim fingers kneaded, poked and rubbed at the sensitive skin of her thigh.

That would have been disconcerting enough considering the last time they'd seen each other, but Bella was also wearing short shorts.

Charlie really needed to stop cranking up the heat so much.

"Does that hurt? Can you move it at all?" Alice continued to fire off questions rapidly as Bella fought off light headedness. She'd been blushing way too much in the past ten minutes and now Alice was touching her after they hadn't talked in a week, and it was all just too much.

"Alice, I'm fine!" she yelped when both of the pixie's hands curled around her thigh and squeezed experimentally, concerned golden eyes wide and anxious. She practically choked on her own spit.

_Oh god, oh god, oh god_, Bella thought, snatching Alice's hands up in hers to stop them from practically _massaging_ her thigh. Now it was Alice's turn to blink, and as their eyes finally properly met, Bella was sure that if the other girl could, she'd be blushing.

"I'm sorry," Alice repeated for the umpteenth time, her voice ashamed and hopeless as she pulled her hands back.

"It's okay, Alice, seriously," Bella rushed to reassure her, beyond confused with Alice's erratic behavior. "Are _you_ okay?" she asked when Alice only sighed and ran a hand through her hair, looking pained and still unconvinced that she hadn't hurt Bella.

What was up with her? Did her failed and completely uncharacteristic entrance and her subsequent stress have anything to do with the last time they'd seen each other? Bella wasn't sure, but it was kind of freaking her out and now she was actually pretty worried about her friend.

Well, if they still _were_ friends. The brunette still wasn't sure where they were at considering how long Alice had been avoiding her for, but she was _acting_ as if she still cared about Bella.

"Yeah, I-I'm good. I'm okay," the vampire responded, though you couldn't tell that by her voice.

"Are you _sure_?" Bella probed, ducking her head to stare intently at Alice through her lashes to gauge her sincerity. _What's _up_ with her? Man, I hope she's not really upset with me, _she thought.

It was odd, the way her heart skipped a little beat when Alice smiled a genuine smile and nodded at her. It had been such a long time since she'd had the privilege of Alice's lovely company and that expression was one Bella had come to associate with happy times.

_God, I never knew how much I liked it when she smiled at me until she stopped doing it. _

She couldn't help but feel that last thought was kind of gay but didn't even care at that point. They'd already locked lips so fuck it; she really just wanted her best friend back. She could blame it on the lingering sensation of pheromones in the air. Now that her body had attuned to Alice's natural aura in a way that was more than friendly, it seemed logical to assume that it might continue to stay that way.

Which was a frightening thought, but Bella tried not to dwell on the negative.

"Are _you_ okay?" Alice asked, yet again and Bella grinned at that familiar twinkle in the pixie's eye.

"Oh, I don't know, you weigh a lot more than you look. What was up with that entrance? That was a far cry from your last Olympic worthy front flip," Bella teased, eager to diffuse the mild, unusual tension that had been building between them, but also curious as to Alice's unusual display of gracelessness.

Her thigh throbbed from where the vampire's knee had banged into her, but there was an uncomfortable tingling sensation from where Alice's hands had run over her skin that she was definitely not in the mood to address. Maybe vampire pheromones were like a drug or something. Like once they got into your system, maybe they stayed there.

Ugh, this was weird, but she was undeniably relieved by Alice's friendly response.

"Did you just call me fat?" Alice's eyes narrowed at her, her lips twisting into a playful scowl.

"I never said that," Bella smirked.

"You _insinuated_ it," Alice insisted, sitting back on her haunches and resting a hand on the brunette's bare ankle as naturally as she did anything else.

It wasn't an unusual gesture from her friend, or any friend really. Alice was by nature a very physically affectionate person and Bella was used to it, and generally welcomed it. But after everything that had recently happened between them, her eyes couldn't help but flicker to the touch, where cool fingers wrapped delicately around her. When they flickered back up she was startled to see Alice's amber eyes boring into hers.

Without acknowledging it any outward manner, Alice pulled her hand away.

Distraught at the thought that she'd put Alice off or made her think that she made Bella uncomfortable (even if in a way she kind of did), Bella scrambled to recover from her moment of uncertainty.

As well as from the electricity that seemed to emanate from everywhere Alice touched her. Like seriously. What the hell.

"Well, if the shoe fits," she taunted and Alice scoffed, looked outraged even as she bit back a smile.

"At least the shoe _would_ fit me. They'd have to go up a size for you!" she retorted and Bella's jaw dropped.

It was a good thing they weren't the stupidly insecure kind of girls who couldn't take a fat joke. As if. Alice probably weighed like a hundred and ten pounds soaking wet, and Bella barely cleared a hundred and twenty after a heavy meal.

"Says the human wrecking ball!" she yelped back, leaning forward to shove Alice's knees, which didn't budge the girl in the slightest. Alice let out a laugh that was impossibly sweet and contagious.

"I _told_ you to move, dummy. You sat there like a knot on a log! You should have seen the look on your face-_Duuhh_," Alice made a completely inaccurate and exaggerated face that was obviously supposed to be a remake of Bella's, twisting it up comically and making a stupid noise to compliment it.

Bella's guffawed as if someone had hit a button to trigger it inside her.

How did Alice do this? A minute ago Bella had been losing her shit thinking that they weren't even friends anymore and that the vampire was here to do the friendship version of dumping her-and now Alice had her laughing in five seconds flat.

"You jackass, I so was _not_!" she laughed as Alice continued to make the stupid face, crossing her eyes and acting as if Bella didn't even exist, still making that inane _Duuhh _sound. "Stop it!" she yelled playfully, slapping the side of Alice's leg lightly and the vampire dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"You had like five seconds to move, honey. Plenty of time for the average human," Alice regained her composure and moved to stand, but snickered at the way Bella rolled her eyes at her. The pixie like girl stuck out her hand to help the brunette up a second later.

Bella hoped Alice didn't notice the way she was looking at her hand as if it were on fire. So far the last few times Alice had touched her, the reaction she'd had to it had been unnerving at the least and alarming at the most. They hadn't even mentioned the _most_ unnerving time Alice had last touched her, when their lips had met and a tongue had traced from her collarbone to her chin-

_Damn, don't think about that! That's not helping!_ Bella mentally reprimanded herself, feeling like a jerk when she saw Alice hesitate and her hand flinch backwards a little. She'd been staring for longer than was appropriate for someone who actually intended to accept a helping hand up.

The same way she'd hated seeing Alice withdraw from her wary eyes when the vampire had laid a hand on her ankle was the same way Bella reacted then.

She practically slapped her hand into Alice's in her haste to prove that she didn't mind touching the other girl despite all that had happened (even if, again, she kind of did) and tugged herself forward hard at the same time Alice pulled back.

This turned out to be a tactical error.

Bella was vaulted onto her feet with a gasp. She yelped and catapulted forward and was startled when Alice swore and staggered back, grabbing at her other flailing arm and hip to steady them as they collided.

"Damn it, I'm sorry Bella-" Alice hissed as Bella grabbed at her shoulders with both hands and Alice grabbed her waist to steady her destabilized legs.

Bella barely heard that. She didn't really hear much of anything other than the blood rushing in her ears.

It had been a whole week since the brunette had been privy to Alice's presence, let alone her touch, and she had forgotten just exactly what that felt like.

Vampires were naturally alluring creatures, and Alice was no exception. Her touch was a soothing caress, a seduction without meaning to be as she squeezed Bella's waist and shuffled her feet to keep her balance. Her scent was unreal, a godly aroma that made the brunette want to inhale deep and hard and hold it in until she was giddy with it. The sweet smell of rain, butterscotch and fresh berries swirled with a dark, tantalizing mix of wet earth and chocolate. God, was that perfume, or was that just how she naturally smelled?

It didn't matter because either way it was making her head feel heavy and her heart pound.

"Hell, I'm sorry," Alice repeated for the thousandth time since she'd entered Bella's room, her voice echoing pleasantly around the brunette's right ear. "I guess I sometimes forget my own strength," she admitted and stepped back a little, easing a stiff Bella away at the same time.

At that, though, Bella regained her senses, snapped out of her vampiric daze by yet another oddity that Alice was displaying tonight.

"What? You _always_ know your own strength," she cocked her head at her friend, bewildered once more.

Alice, however, was apparently still feeling playful because with a start, the human girl saw a familiar twinkle sparkle to life in the girl's amber eyes and hissed in a breath at the same time that Alice smirked.

Bella knew that look far too well.

"Oh, do I?" Alice cocked her own head and flashed her pearly white teeth, her grip moving from Bella's hips to her sides and squeezing. God, the vampire needed to stop touching her and soon, because if Bella didn't know any better, she'd almost have to admit to herself that she was enjoying it in a far more than in a platonic sense.

Fucking pheromones, messing with her head.

However, she narrowed her eyes in slight confusion and wariness as Alice eyes flickered from her, to her bed, and back again, positively devious.

Bella realized her intentions a moment too late.

"Don't you _dare_-"

Alice picked her up and threw her.

With a gasp and a squeal from Bella and a grunt of effort from Alice, the human girl went sailing through the air and landed with a harsh thump on her bed, breathless and irate. She sat up, torn between fuming and laughing, giddy with adrenaline from being launched so effortlessly by her friend.

But alas, Alice wasn't through with her shenanigans and Bella ended up yelping and jerking back when the vampire cart wheeled over and then flipped onto the bed, landing in an Indian style sitting position an inch from her face.

"Boo," she said then burst into hysterical laughter when Bella swore and grabbed the nearest pillow to begin hitting her with it furiously.

"You insufferable _jackass_! Do I look like a rag doll to you? The hell is wrong with you, acting like you have _no_ goddamn sense-"

But even as she chewed Alice out, Bella was fighting off a giggle fit as her friend howled with mirth, not even trying to avoid the pathetic pillow blows that the brunette was dealing her.

"Jerk," she huffed out and sank back against her headboard, folding her arms and pouting pitifully when Alice finally began to calm down.

"Oh, honey, you're just too easy," the pixie sighed, snickering at Bella's jutted out bottom lip and crossed arms.

"Your _mom_ is easy," she snapped back petulantly. She was only mildly annoyed at the fact that Alice had launched her through her own room and was now only playing at being upset to mess with her.

Honestly, being shot across the room was kinda fun, but no way was she going to tell Alice that. Uh uh. She was going to milk this for all it was worth now.

"Oh my god, stop. That is too freaking cute," Alice gushed. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You should pout more often, maybe I wouldn't be so mean to you then."

Bella only jerked her head away, pointedly refusing to look at her friend.

"_Bella_. Oh, _Isabella_."

Bella's heart spasmed a little at the sound of her name falling from Alice's lips like that. Alice's voice was breathy and pleading at first, but when she said Bella's full name she said it firmly, in a fondly exasperated manner, almost like a contrite lover.

She stiffened and tried to keep her cool, but was completely unsettled by the effect it had, how it made her tummy dip a bit and her throat close.

This was getting ridiculous.

"I'm sorry, Bells. I don't know how many times I've said that tonight, but I'm sorry again," Alice's voice became serious then, as if she really believed Bella was mad at her.

Well, that definitely wasn't the effect she was going for.

She turned her head back quickly at the sound of her friend's worry, immediately dropping the pout and the crossed arms.

"Dude, I was just kidding," she grinned, slipping into an Indian style position that mirrored Alice's so closely that their knees touched. But her grin faded when Alice's response was only a weak smile back.

"I know, but you shouldn't be," she replied softly, her demeanor changing from playful and goofy to serious and concerned once more.

Bella furrowed her brow, thoroughly thrown off by the mood swings Alice was displaying. Enough was enough.

"Okay, seriously Alice, what's wrong? You've been acting weird all night," she blurted, then instantly regretted it.

_Well, why the hell do you think she's acting weird, stupid? Probably because you bit the fuck out of her the last time you saw her and made her kiss you_, Bella thought angrily at herself.

Oh god, oh god.

She wasn't ready to have this conversation. Her belly twisted anxiously as Alice's eyes met hers, her emotions unreadable when they were usually an open book. She'd thought they were in the clear when Alice started acting like her normal self, but she hadn't really been acting normal all night.

Sure, she'd been friendly like always but there had been a tension beneath it since the moment she'd careened into Bella coming through the window like a bat out of hell, not to mention that was completely unlike her.

So maybe she was upset about the bite, and maybe she was just trying to be nice and make things normal between them but it wasn't working, and now they wouldn't be friends, and wow Bella really didn't want that to happen, and was it getting hotter in there or was it just her?

_Breathe_, she told herself for the second time, staving off panic, but only barely.

"Bella," Alice began, fiddling with her hands in her lap. "Look, we're like, really good friends right? Have been since like, the moment we met pretty much?"

"Yeah, totally. Always," Bella rushed to answer, already feeling queasy at the choice of words Alice was choosing. "You're like my best friend," she added a second later, feeling pathetic for it immediately, for feeling as if she had to remind the girl of that.

_Here it goes. She's gonna break off the friendship. Why does it feel like I'm getting dumped?_ Bella thought sadly, and then mentally slapped herself over the head for making that analogy. As if she wasn't having enough trouble with the pheromones, she had to go and make stupid comparisons like that.

"Always," Alice repeated with a wry smile in a way that the brunette wasn't sure how to interpret. But something about the way she said it made her heart flutter with something a little like hope.

"And we can talk about anything, right? We've never had trouble talking about whatever," Alice continued, clearly trying to lead the conversation somewhere.

"Of course. We can talk about anything," Bella followed like a lost puppy, practically parroting the other girl.

Usually she'd be a little more literate about this but she was more focused on warding off a panic attack.

"So…So I don't want to lose any of that. So can we just talk about what I know we're both thinking about?"

Oh hell.

She said it.

She'd called Bella out.

The brunette's stomach bottomed out and she breathed a shaky breath.

Still not ready for this. Still not able to compute the fact that they'd kissed, that Alice had licked her so provocatively, that the situation had manifested itself into this massive elephant sitting between them and trumpeting its trunk of which only Alice had the guts to point out.

"Which is?" Bella prompted helplessly, internally screaming.

You fucking coward, Swan.

She couldn't say it. Alice was going to have to do it. Bella was a bonafide weenie and literally could barely keep it together. Why was this such a big deal? It was just a misunderstanding, that's all!

"The fact that the last time I was over here, you bit me and I kissed you."

Alice Cullen had balls of steel. She put it so bluntly that Bella felt like she'd been punched in the face and she reeled to get control of her thoughts.

God, now she was thinking about it again. She was thinking about how Alice's lips felt against hers, how her skin tasted in her mouth, how she sparked electricity along the inside of Bella's thigh with her soft, cool hands and how her breasts had swung centimeters from her nose and despite herself, Bella had looked at them for some unfathomable reason-

And how now that all that was flooding her, how she glanced at Alice's lips and imagined them pulling back to reveal bright white fangs.

She almost squeaked out loud.

"Um, yeah. Yeah, um. We can-We should totally-Totally like, talk about that. Yeah," she nodded her head dumbly like a marionette on a string, waving her hand in a weird little flippant wave as if to show Alice how much it didn't bother her.

Alice looked torn between laughing and looking concerned, and so Bella knew that she wasn't fooling her friend for a second.

"Look…I know you probably think I'm a freak now. You've always been cool with me being into girls and all that, let alone the fact that I'm a vampire, but I know you probably aren't cool with either of those things anymore now…" Alice sounded totally resigned to this as began to talk, her voice heavy and sad.

What?

_What_?

Alice thought Bella thought _she_ was the weird one?

"You think _I'm_ mad at _you_? You think _you're_ the weird one here? Seriously?" she interrupted, gawking, all of her previous panic forgotten in her shock.

Alice furrowed her brow and cocked her head legitimately this time.

"Uh, yeah?" she said. "Why wouldn't I be? I kissed you. I even…I even _licked_ you."

Bella scoffed to keep her cheeks from flaming bright red at the reminder. It didn't work and the blood rushed to her face.

"Okay, Alice, no. I don't think you're a freak and I still don't care that you like girls. I still don't care that you're a vampire. You have got it all twisted. I mean-I totally thought you hated me now. I mean, don't you? Hate me?" Bella asked, immediately rushing forward for fear that Alice might actually answer that question.

"Hate you?" Alice scoffed even as Bella kept talking.

"I _bit_ you. Like a total idiot. It was my fault you lost it, not yours. I should never have done something so stupid. To think that was okay? I should be the one apologizing, not you. And I am. I'm sorry," Bella finished her rant, her chest heaving from nerves.

Alice's face screwed up and she breathed in deeply, as if seeing Bella for the first time. The brunette girl tried not to cringe, fearing that she'd actually convinced her friend that she was right which would be unbelievably stupid of her.

"You-I-No. No, to _all_ of that. _No_, I don't hate you. How could I ever hate you, Bella? And no way is this your fault. I should never lose control like that. _Never_, for any reason. I don't care if you had hauled off and slapped me, I should never come at you like that. I-I scared you. Do you know that's pretty much all I've been able to think about, the look on your face that night? God, Bella, don't apologize for this. A little nip on the shoulder should _never_ provoke that, especially from me," Alice exclaimed, reaching out to put a hand on Bella's knee.

They were silent for a moment, Alice looking beseechingly into Bella's eyes as the human girl fought off tears.

Alice didn't hate her.

She really didn't.

The relief was like a weight lifted from her shoulders, let her breathe easier.

"Oh," she murmured. "Alice…Don't put so much of this on yourself. If I hadn't have bitten you…I totally thought you were coming here tonight to break off our friendship or something. I thought _you_ thought _I_ was a freak," she admitted.

"No," Alice said forcefully. "No, Bella, _never_. You are always my friend, no matter what. And for the last time, this was in no way your fault."

Bella didn't believe that but she knew there was no convincing Alice of that. She didn't care though. All she knew was that Alice still wanted to be friends, that they were good, they were cool, and suddenly that made everything just fine.

It was unreal, how terrified she had been that Alice didn't want to be friends anymore.

"I'm not afraid of you," she blurted, unable to stand the forlorn look in Alice's eyes as the other girl slowly drew her hand back. Apparently, she'd been silent too long and Alice had misread her silence. "I'm serious. I wasn't afraid. I'm not afraid now. And I still don't care if you're bi or gay or whatever. It was no big deal. Seriously. I just want to put it behind us."

Alice sat back then, her eyes skeptical and her features still self loathing.

"I mean it. We're still friends, right?" Bella insisted, frustrated by the vampire's continued self punishing look.

Alright, so maybe she was desperate for some reassurance. Hearing Alice say it out loud couldn't hurt.

"Always," Alice echoed her previous word back at her, a weak smile on her face.

And again with those peculiar butterflies…

"So _no big deal_. I'm not afraid of you and it was just a mistake on both our parts, so let's forget it."

"I don't believe you."

Well, so much for that.

"What do you mean you don't believe me?" Bella frowned at her.

"I mean I don't believe you when you say you're not afraid of me. You have _never_ looked at me like that, Bella. You looked at me like I was-Like I was a _monster_," Alice's voice was overridden with anguish. "And I can't forget it. That's why it took me so long to come see you. How could I ever look you in the eyes again after that?"

So that's what was keeping Alice from letting it go.

"Alice, you are _not_ a monster! And I wasn't scared-" Liar. "-I was just kinda freaked out is all. I mean, we _did_ just lock lips."

Saying it out loud was a bad idea because instantly she was thinking about it and feeling warm and uncomfortable again, but reassuring Alice was higher on her priority list than losing it again.

"You were. You think I can't see it, Bella? I know what fear looks like by now," Alice huffed back, her hands clenching into fists.

Bella didn't want to address how Alice knew that at that particular moment, but she had some pretty good ideas.

"Alice, seriously. Just forget it. I am _not_ afraid of you. I'm more afraid of a bunny rabbit than big bad Alice. You're like, four feet tall in high heels. My own reflection scares me more than you," Bella snorted, attempting humor to diffuse Alice's stress.

It didn't work. Alice only glared feebly at her. She sighed and scowled back, frustrated. She just wanted to put this whole mess behind them already.

"Okay, what is it going to take for me to prove that you don't scare me?" she threw up her hands, out of ideas already.

Creative girl, huh?

Alice grimaced and grumbled, shifting around on the bed. She eyed Bella with what seemed to be uncertainty and Bella only raised her eyebrows at her as if to say _I'm waiting_.

"_You're_ not the one that needs to prove anything!" Alice finally burst out. "Don't you get that? Bella, I practically molested you. And apparently I need to say it out loud that I wanted to bite you _back, _because you're obviously not getting it."

Damn it, sonofabitch, _shit_.

Images of Alice lunging forward and pinning her to the bed by her wrists assaulted her brain, followed closely by an image of the vampire sinking her teeth into the column of her throat. Bella coughed a little and cleared her throat, turning bright red.

"Dude, I know that!" she snapped back, lingering somewhere between cherry and tomato red. Her face was hot and she had a sudden weird longing to press her face into the coolness of Alice's hands.

_Stop, stop, stop!_ She thought frantically. _Stop it!_

This was seriously getting out of hand. God, all she had to do was say one word, one stupid little word and they wouldn't even be in this mess. All she had to say was Uncle, but no, she was too competitive and stubborn and caught up in the moment where it seemed like Alice had invincible control.

It was as if Alice's pheromones were in her head, twisting around her thoughts, telling her that the vampire may be her predator and Bella may be her prey, but that was okay, that was fine, because Alice could make that dynamic feel _so_ good.

"I know you know that, and that's why I know you're still afraid of me. And that's why I need to prove to you why you shouldn't be…Somehow," Alice maintained, oblivious to Bella's renewed internal hysteria.

"I am _not_," she insisted without thinking about it, still warring with her emotions.

It was true, though. So yeah, maybe the other girl had frightened her when she'd lost it like that, but it certainly wasn't lingering. She felt perfectly safe around Alice now, as she did all the Cullen vampires. It was kind of like she'd kicked a friendly dog and it had snarled at her, but now she knew better. It was her fault, not Alice's, which was why she didn't ever think the vampire would truly hurt her.

"I've got it!" Alice gasped, snapping her fingers out of nowhere and shooting her gaze right to Bella's startled eyes.

But try convincing Alice that it wasn't her fault.

"What?" Bella inquired warily, still uncomfortably hot and blushing like mad, forever replaying memories in her head that really just needed to stop.

It was the look in Alice's eyes and how genuinely sincere that they were that made the brunette suddenly anxious as to what exactly her friend had come up with to somehow recover the stability of their friendship.

"You can bite me again!" Alice beamed, looking entirely too pleased with herself.

Well.

At least no one could ever claim that Alice was predictable.

* * *

_**I don't want anyone to think I'm fishing for reviews or any shit like that. I went through a phase where I was like that, desperate for them and I promised myself I wouldn't ever be that way again. I don't want fake reviews just to boost my confidence or something. I want people to review and show love if it's really worth it. If my writing isn't good enough for someone to let me know, that's fine.**_

_**If you like any of my other stories, you might want to go save them. If I delete them it has nothing to do with attention or reviews or any of that nonsense, but whether I think they're worthy to be kept up as a representation of my ability as a writer.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Okay, this took like two weeks I know and I'm sorry. But it was so hard to write. I think it's because I've never really written a proper bout of gay panic before so...Yeah. It felt mildly repetitive as did the previous chapter, and I'll work on that, I promise. Someone mentioned that there isn't really a plot yet...But guys, we're like three chapters in lol. This one really introduces it but we won't really get into it until the next one. **_

_**As far as how I feel about my writing goes...Yeah, I'm still working on that. Thanks to everyone who showed love, it means a lot...But not everything. The main point of writing these stories is to enjoy what I do, and right now I am, it's just really difficult. I'll get back to you all on that when I really stabilize how I feel. I think a certain author by the name of xDreamlessx is experiencing something similar...Someone go spam her and tell her to talk to me. I bet I could help. I've been there, I promise. Nearly every author on this site has been there and sometimes I still am. I bet I could help, and no one wants to lose a great writer like her when we're already lacking pretty much any quality Bellice fics. **_

_**But anyway...Enjoy :)**_

* * *

"I-I hate to burst your-your _bubble_ here Alice, but that sounds like a fantastically _bad _idea," Bella stammered, immediately searching for any way to shoot down that idea as quickly as possible. Her internal panic skyrocketed and that was definitely saying something considering how high it had been all night.

If Alice couldn't see it in her eyes yet, then she was oblivious.

"It is not!" the vampire huffed back, giving her a mildly pouty look at the immediate dismissal of her plan, as if she didn't understand why the brunette was reacting like this.

Oblivious it is then. As if her mildly gay panic induced by an overdose of mysteriously prominent pheromones wasn't already bad enough, Alice actually wanted a repeat of the scenario that had caused them.

Seriously.

What the hell.

"Yes it is!" Bella argued, unable to keep the astonishment off her face.

What on God's green earth had convinced Alice that this could possibly be a good idea? After what had happened last time, she wanted Bella to do it _again_? Huh?

"No, it's _not_," Alice growled back, shifting around on the bed as Bella gave her a WTF look.

"Yes it _is_!" Bella repeated firmly, eyebrows warring with her hairline from how high they'd risen. "Are you _high_?"

_Loco. She's absolutely nuts! _Bella thought. How could that ever be a logical course of action?

"No it _isn't_, and no I am not! Vampires can't even get high, thank you very much," Alice snapped smartly. "Will you just hear me out?" she pleaded, softening her gaze as Bella continued to look at her as if she were insane.

Bella stared at her friend skeptically. No, not even skeptically, but with downright refusal.

"You want me to bite you, _again_? After what happened last time? Alice, what the fu-"

"Bella, shut up."

Bella scowled at that and immediately began glaring, beyond miffed. However, it took about three seconds of seeing the twinkle in Alice's eye and the slight quirk to the corner of her mouth to know that the girl was deliberately trying to push her buttons to make her listen.

She finally gave up on trying to make Alice cower with her feeble glaring and rolled her eyes. She mimed zipping her lips before sitting back and crossing her arms before flippantly waving her hand as if to say _Go ahead_.

"Thank you," Alice beamed before immediately becoming serious again.

_Again with the mood swings_, Bella noted. But something swiftly demanded her attention as Alice began to talk. After the initial shock of the absurdity of Alice's suggestion, a previous problem became known once more.

Pheromones.

They seemed to come rushing back up and make her dizzy as Alice's voice was twisted into something soft and seductive, tantalizing.

Renewed hysteria had Bella's heart going a hundred miles an hour flat in about two seconds. She tried not to outwardly grimace and prayed that the knotting of her stomach wouldn't result in long lasting ulcers.

"Look, I know it sounds crazy, but it's really not. From the moment I've stepped foot in your room tonight Bella, I haven't even been able to look at you the same, nor have you been able to look at me the same. I keep waiting for you to start shrieking and pulling out crosses, or waving garlic under my nose," Alice began, tearing Bella out of her inner chaos.

"I would _never_," she gawked, affronted at the notion that not only would she treat her friend that way, but also in such a stupid manner.

Alice ignored the look on her face and continued. (Bella was beginning to wonder if she'd been doing that all night too, because no way was she that good of an actress.) "I just…I can't stand the thought of you being afraid of me especially when I _know_ that I have the control to handle myself in a situation like that. I've practiced it for the past five decades solid. I'm better than that. I'm pissed at myself that I let myself get caught off guard like that. Bella, I meant it when I said you could honestly haul off and slap me right across the mouth and I promise you I'd keep my cool…Well, I might be kind of pissed, but I wouldn't _assault _you."

Right now, slapping Alice across the mouth was starting to look like a better idea than _biting_ her.

No. She refused to consider this. This was absolutely ridiculous. Ridiculous! Bella was already desperately trying to ignore the unnerving effects Alice's presence seemed to be causing, and she was pretty sure it had something to do with the little nip she'd given her a week ago. To take the chance of biting her again might make it worse.

She wasn't afraid that Alice would react the same way because she was afraid the vampire would hurt her. Like she'd said, she wasn't afraid of her friend. She trusted her, and she knew she'd only snapped her control because she'd startled her.

No, Bella wasn't afraid of being hurt. She was afraid that she would _like_ it.

Maybe-maybe if this was how it felt to think about it, a way that it shouldn't feel, it would be even more potent to actually _do_ it.

Uh uh. This could not be allowed to happen. If Alice didn't think she was a freak before, she sure as hell would if they went through with this and Bella ended up being…Oh god, being _aroused_ by it enough to where the vampire's keen senses could sense it.

"I know that, Alice. That's why I think this is dumb! What's the point in taking the risk when we both know you've got impeccable control?" Bella burst out, unable to keep quiet any longer. Smothering all this couldn't be good for her. It was starting to make her kind of queasy.

"Because there _is_ no risk and I need you to know that. I need to prove it to you, and I need to prove it to myself," Alice insisted fervently, fisting the sheets in her hands as she leaned forward a little.

A waft of Alice's lovely aroma teasingly rushed through her diaphragm as Bella breathed in sharply at the closer positioning. A litany of furious swears went through her mind and she tried not to visibly draw back to keep it together.

"Why can't you just believe me?" Bella breathed out, trying to keep her voice strong. It didn't work and the intensity of Alice's expression made her swallow hard. The frustration and pain in those swirling amber eyes nearly broke her heart.

Alice was serious. She really was even more torn up than Bella had thought. And that fact cut through the daze of pheromones and tugged at her heartstrings.

_Oh Alice_, she thought sadly when the girl grit her teeth and pulled back, clearly torn.

"_Because_. Because just the fact that you're so resistant to this proves that you think something bad will happen if we do, and it _won't_. Because all night you've been looking at me like a caged animal, like you're anxious just being around me. Because you-You flinch every time I even go near you, let alone touch you. That never-That's never bothered you before. You never minded, we were always just close like that and now-" Alice cut herself off in a fit of anguish and averted her eyes sharply. Bella was sure she'd seen them shining with unsheddable tears, and that felt like a punch to the gut.

She'd never seen Alice truly hurting before. They'd always been happy together and she'd never seen the vampire with a reason to cry or even get this upset. It was startling, the effect it had on her. In fact, everything Alice did had quite a startling effect on her.

Oh, but how wrong she pixie was.

Bella wasn't afraid that Alice would _hurt_ her. She was afraid Alice would _turn her on_. It turned out Alice actually had been reading the looks on her face.

_Crap_, she thought. How many times a night was it okay to panic before you started running the risk of permanently high blood pressure and/or a heart attack?

"No, Alice I-"

The vampire had it all wrong.

And Bella couldn't correct her without giving herself away. The thought of even doing that sent her into a tailspin of heated embarrassment and shame that threatened to melt her into a pathetic puddle.

No way was she going to tell Alice the effect her pheromones were having. This shit didn't happen with anyone else around her. She'd think Bella had some weird, psychotic lesbian crush on her or something now. Just because she was bi meant nothing.

Biting a vampire and being kissed by one didn't convert you to lesbianism. That was absolutely idiotic, and no way could she even attempt to explain that asinine notion to Alice without coming of completely weird.

But then why was her presence so intoxicating now?

"It's fine, Bella. It's okay. I won't pressure you. I know it was a dumb idea. I just don't know what else to do to fix this. I just-Maybe it's better if I just go," Alice interrupted as she turned back to her, giving Bella a watery smile that came nowhere near to reaching her eyes.

_What?_

If she hadn't reached the healthy panic threshold yet, she'd just blown it through the roof.

"I'll do it!" Bella yelped, wildly flailing and grabbing crazily at Alice's jacket sleeves as Alice shifted to leave.

Yeah, no.

"Shut up you idiot, I'll do it if it will make you stop acting like this!" she gasped. "Don't even with your melodramatic storm out. At the rate you're going you'd probably beef it out the window anyway," she added, trying to cover up for her unreasonable alarm at that suggestion. She desperately avoided Alice's WTF look that mirrored hers from before. Being a hypocrite and calling Alice the melodramatic one here was helpful.

Whatever. No way was she losing Alice to his nonsense. If she left now Bella would probably never see her again. Even though a reprieve from the effect her presence was having would be great, that option was null and void. It wasn't worth the brunette's overreaction to lose her friend. The thought that she still might made her decidedly forlorn.

"Really?" Alice cocked an eyebrow. "But…No, Bella, you're obviously uncomfortable and I'm not going to pressure you into this, it was stupid and I-"

"I'm perfectly comfortable," Bella lied through her freaking teeth, mentally beating herself silly with a hammer for acting so rashly.

But really, when she stopped and thought about the possible consequences of Alice leaving like that, she could barely stand it…

But was she really capable of biting Alice again to prevent that?

"No, you're not. I can tell by the sound of your voice. It was an inane suggestion and I'm not forcing you into this-"

"You can read the future, not the tone of my voice. I'm serious, Alice, if this is what it takes to prove to you that I'm not afraid of you, then fine. I'll bite you. It's not a big deal."

Was her voice a noticeably higher pitch than usual? Bella couldn't tell. She was staving off an anxiety attack.

_I'm going to bite her. I'm going to sink my teeth into her again, and taste her. And all I'm going to be able to think about is how it felt to kiss her. Oh my god, hell, hell, hell! I'm not even gay! What the fuck is happening to me?_

Her words were pitiful at best; Alice didn't need superpowers to read the tone of her voice. A small child could have listened to Bella speak and heard the anxiety in it.

"Bella, no, you're obviously freaked out-"

Understatement of the year.

"Stop telling me what I feel, damn it! I am not freaked out and I'm not scared of you!"

Lie-diddy-lie-lie-lie.

Lies.

"But-"

"Alice, shut up!"

Bella needed her to stop talking. Like right now. She needed Alice to stop trying to talk her out of it before it worked and their crumbling friendship finally really broke.

Alice snapped her mouth closed and glared at Bella's reiteration that sounded familiar, as if just maybe Alice had said the same thing earlier. The brunette gave her a weak, sheepish grin and after a moment, the vampire grudgingly rolled her eyes and sighed at her.

"Okay," Alice whispered, giving Bella a sincere look that made the brunette's insides throb faintly with some uncertain emotion.

Bella let go of her jacket promptly and sat back up, having suddenly realized what exactly she'd just done. She hadn't realized how tightly she'd been holding onto Alice's jacket sleeves, and wasn't sure why the vampire was so unaffected by it. If the roles had been reversed, Bella would have been completely put off by the display and the grip, but as it was, the pale girl didn't seem to care.

They went silent for a long, tense moment. Bella took the time to gather herself and breathed in deep breaths while she rubbed the back of her neck, blushing faintly under Alice's stare.

_This is no big deal. Just-cool it, Swan. Deep breaths. That's it. Inhale. Exhale. Breathe. Now look at her. She's still just Alice, your best friend. So you bit her. So what. So she licked your throat like a lollipop. So what. So she kissed you. So what. And maybe you even kinda liked it. No. Big. Deal. Pheromones are powerful stuff. It was an honest mistake. She's a vampire, for god's sake, something like this was bound to happen eventually. Just calm down. She's obviously hurting and you're acting like an imbecile. You can bite her again, and Alice will take it like a champ and realize you're not scared of her after proving how good her control is, and then you both can laugh at your idiocy and move on and put this whole mess behind you. Stop acting like a dweeb and just get it over with!_

Bella finally really looked at Alice after her exhausting mental prep talk, and smiled.

Aaand all her resolve shattered the moment their pupils connected and she saw how pretty and broken Alice was, realized how deeply she'd been breathing in her scent and how she was literally about to put her mouth on her skin-

She couldn't do this. Oh hell, she couldn't do this.

"Bella…Are you sure about this?" Alice said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Mhm," Bella squeaked, barely keeping eye contact

"You're sure? Really sure?"

"Yep."

"Really, really sure?"

"Yes, Alice. I mean it!" Bella cried.

If the vampire kept testing her resistance any further, the brunette would back out and that would be their friendship gone down the tubes. Bella didn't think she could stand that at this point, especially with how her relationship with Edward was going lately. She couldn't take any more heartache.

Then again, she was starting to think she couldn't take anymore panic. Seriously. She was about to puke.

"If you mean it, then yeah, this is pretty much all I can think of to do the trick…" Alice murmured. "I guess…We should just go ahead and get it over with?"

_Shit_, she thought. _Shitty shit shit_. _What did I just do? _

"Alright well um…Okay. How do you want to do this?" Bella inquired softly, feeling like her insides were buzzing all at once, like the way her foot felt when it fell asleep.

"Um, I guess the best way to do it would be as close as possible to the first time so I can show you I can keep control in a situation like that…C'mere, Bells."

_Damn damn damn! _Bella's inner mantras were becoming decidedly vulgar. Why did those freaking pheromones have to make everything Alice say sound like a pornographic beckoning? The way she said 'come here' as if the brunette were her half naked lover or something…

Bella had convinced herself to agree in a moment of weakness, terrified that Alice had been about to really drop out of her life for good if she didn't do something drastic. But now she was regretting it, and not for the reasons Alice would assume she was.

It was time to face facts. She was aroused by Alice.

There. She admitted it.

No big deal. Pheromones did that to people. She could deal with that.

Just not if she had to crawl back into the other girl's lap and taste her flawless marble skin again.

Bella slid forward after an unreasonable amount of hesitance with all the reluctance of someone about to be struck; as if she were crawling towards something disgusting instead of one of the most beautiful and intoxicating creatures on the planet. She shuffled forward awkwardly, not meeting the other girl's eyes, pointedly staring at her delicate chin and not her neck, and certainly not her breasts (again).

"Bella?"

At the sound of her name on pretty pink lips, however, she was forced to look up.

"It's okay…I mean it. I'm not going to hurt you," Alice murmured, her eyes so tender that it actually hurt in a weird way to look at her.

"I know. I wouldn't have agreed if I thought otherwise," Bella choked out the lie, already running through a million different scenarios that ranged anywhere from disturbingly sexual to frighteningly violent.

Awkwardly, Alice moved towards her. Bella froze up as the vampire sidled forward and dropped her right leg over the side of the bed so she could get closer. Bella reluctantly uncrossed her legs and got on her knees.

"It's okay," Alice repeated softly when the brunette made no other movements.

Bella nodded but couldn't make herself move again, trapped in her limbo of fear. Her veins seemed to pump with Alice when the other girl was so close.

After a long moment of just staring at each other, Alice kind and sincere, Bella trapped like a deer in headlights, the vampire tentatively reached a hand out to help her frozen friend.

"I'll…Here, let me…"

Hesitantly, as if unsure if Bella would slap her away, Alice touched her. She almost yelped when a cold hand gently laid over the back of her neck and gently began drawing her forward, giving her all the ability in the world to pull away if she wanted to.

A bizarrely accurate and frightening image of herself being forced into a medieval guillotine flashed across Bella's eyes. She bit her lip as Alice slowly brought her in, turning her head to the side and baring the smooth, creamy expanse of the left side of her neck, on Bella's right. The brunette shuffled closer and closer, no longer breathing and both her legs kind of pressed down on either side of the vampire's thigh that remained on the bed.

_Oh god_, Bella thought at the sight. _Oh my god, what am I doing?_

"Don't hold back or anything. That would kinda defeat the point. You have to bite me the same way you bit me before…Which was really hard…Jerk," Alice huffed playfully, but Bella didn't even have the ability to form a customary joking response.

She seemed to be entering some sort of powerful daze…

The pure scent of Alice was slowly but surely crammed into her senses, shuttled into her skull to really drive the point of her allure home. Pheromones created crystalline patterns of need along the insides of her skin, Alice's cool touch radiating icy heat along the back of her neck.

_Why is she having this much of an effect on me? _Bella wondered, swimming in the palpable sensations. _I knew vampires were supposed to be alluring, but god this is different…_

When Bella's lips were only centimeters from her neck, Alice's hand slid down to her shoulder where it stayed, an anchor to keep the brunette from shying.

"This isn't really that big of a deal, you know," Bella stated a good ten seconds outside the usual response time of two people conversing but as if Alice had only spoken a moment ago.

Huh. Who knew she was a talker when on the edge of a cliff. She'd never thought she'd be the kind of person to talk to ward of complete and total hysteria. She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Alice or herself.

She stared blankly at Alice's neck, the cogs and gears spinning rapidly in her brain, and yet no comprehension was produced for all their efforts. She was just saying shit to keep from losing her freakin' mind.

"I know. I don't know why we're being so dramatic," Alice agreed, however. The vampire laughed a little and shifted to get more comfortable.

Bella didn't notice that. All she noticed was how soft Alice's skin looked when she knew it was tougher than granite, and how her throat bobbed when she chuckled. All she noticed was her scent, and the weight of her hand on her shoulder, how it was both a temptation and a chain.

_What am I doing with my life?_ She thought desperately.

She put her hand on Alice's left shoulder to steady herself and tentatively slid her other hand into the upturned collar of her jacket, pushing it out of her way. Her hand was brushed by feather soft hair that hugged the contours of a gorgeous jaw line and it made her whole arm erupt in goose bumps. When her palm slid across a lovely sloping shoulder and she felt the coolness of Alice's skin, she almost jerked away.

Alice would be wearing a spaghetti top this night of all nights. No wonder it was so low cut.

Best not to think about her cleavage against at a moment like this. She _really_ tried not to think about _why_ she had to try to not think about Alice's cleavage, ever.

"So do I just…Go for it?" she squeaked, her throat impossibly dry, her body aching in an odd way, her mind whirling a thousand miles a minute.

"Yep," Alice's voice was a far cry from hers, chipper almost.

Weird girl, Alice was. She seemed completely unperturbed. Her belief in her own control was almost inspiring. It was too bad that couldn't rub off on Bella instead of her pheromones. She truly seemed to believe that if Bella bit her again, everything would be fine from there.

"Okay," Bella breathed, leaned in as close as she dared. She screwed her eyes shut as Alice continued to stare at the far wall, as oblivious to Bella's turmoil as she had been all night…Or so she'd seemed.

"Okay," Alice parroted calmly.

"Okay," Bella repeated, still fighting the pheromones with everything she had even as her whole body reacted to being so close, so close since what had happened, to redo it, to actually bite Alice again, and god she shouldn't be having this reaction but she was and she didn't know how to make it stop-

"Okay," Alice's voice was a near giggle in her ear, amused by Bella's antics, apparently.

"Okay," she said back again, stalling helplessly.

_God, god, god! Do it! Just do it! You're being ridiculous!_

"Okay?" Alice's tone became an uncertain question and she turned slightly back towards her friend to see if it really was, considering the amount of times they'd said 'okay' in the past ten seconds.

"O-_kay_!"

Bella's last thought was simply a solid _Fuck it_ before she opened her mouth and jerked forward, eyes still determinedly shut against the on onslaught of thick pheromones penetrating her system. She dug her nails in without meaning to into the skin of Alice's shoulder beneath her jacket and her heart seemed to stop-literally just stop as she snapped her teeth closed on a cold, graceful neck.

The world slowed to a blinding crawl.

Bella whimpered when she heard Alice inhale sharply next to her, startled by the sudden execution. The brunette felt strong flesh give the slightest bit to the cruel imprint of her teeth which tingled down to the roots. She'd bitten down hard, as hard as the first time in her rush. She felt Alice's hand squeeze her shoulder and felt its twin clamp down on her other one.

_Oh my god…_

A blast of pheromones rocked her eyes open.

Oh Jesus, she'd felt that one down in her _bones_.

Her nervous system fired and she gasped aloud around the mouthful of Alice that she had. Everything lit up, pleasantly faintly tingling along her senses. Her world seemed to blur and she fought to make sense of what was happening to her, but before she could get beyond _oh my god_ and _Jesus Christ, _she lost control of her body and slumped forward.

The weight of her body pressed into Alice's as she trembled, and god, god, mother of Mary and Joseph, she should have just sat in Alice's lap again, not straddled her fucking thigh! Her eyes rolled back and a high pitched little keen echoed in the back of her throat as her center came down on Alice's leg. Without meaning to, she dug her teeth in even harder and vaguely heard Alice growl quietly.

But it had no effect, because her tongue had touched skin and it tasted like icy sweet candy, like spearmint and berries. The flavor burst on her tongue and yet another wave of pheromones roiled in her belly in a way that only Edward had ever done to her.

_What is happening to me!_ She internally screamed, drowning in a sea of bliss and fear.

Bella quivered slightly as she felt Alice give a shudder and cock her head a bit to towards the mouth latched on to her. It was this movement that caused Bella to snap back to reality. With a muffled yelp, she reared back and released the bit of flesh she'd bitten down on.

"Alice-Alice I'm sorry-I didn't mean to bite so hard-Jesus, I-"

Frazzled beyond anything else she'd been tonight, Bella swiped frantically at the bite mark she'd left with her hands, trying to clear away the saliva, anything to do to keep from shrieking and fleeing the room. Her heartbeat had tripled and she felt too hot, felt like her skin was moving against her nerves and agitating them in a way that was not unpleasant and she didn't know why her body was reacting like this. Bella was beyond confused and aroused and utterly freaked out.

What was happening?

This time, she'd bitten Alice directly on her pulse point and a wicked ring of reddish purple was blossoming in the imprint of her teeth.

"Bella," Alice said sharply and caught her wrist, jerking it away from the wound as she winced. "It's okay-Stop, stop-"

Bella gasped in the heaviest lungful of air she could manage and then-she simply stopped breathing all together.

There was a vice grip on her heart and her stomach wrought in the chains of Alice's personal brand of vampiric chemical weaponry.

Their eyes had locked. Alice's were darker, a dull, tarnished shade of gold, nearly brass. But they weren't swirling like the first time, with heat and hunger and desire.

The most terrifying part about that was the tiny part of Bella that was disappointed by this.

"I'm fine, Bella. I mean it. Look at me. I'm good, I'm cool. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm _fine_," Alice smiled reassuringly, mistaking once again the reason for Bella's panic. But indeed, she seemed to be taking it well. Though her smile was strained, it was there, and she wasn't baring her teeth or giving any sign that she was anything but calm and collected.

Her hand softened its hold on the brunette's wrist and became gentle, soothing.

It had the wrong effect.

A path blazed its way down Bella's arm and drove her to the brink of insanity. Her eyes widened and felt as if they were moving too fast, wildly searching Alice's face for something she couldn't begin to name, greedily drinking her in as if she were possessed. Her skin felt too warm and only where Alice touched her did she feel cool enough to exist, to keep control.

"Calm down, honey," Alice said, ducking her head to stare coaxingly at Bella through her lashes. ,"I'm fine," she repeated insistently, eager to relax the brunette, her thumb comfortingly tracing a figure eight pattern along the inside of the brunette's wrist.

Wrong move.

"Alice?" Bella breathed.

"Yeah?"

"I'm not."

And with that, Bella lunged forward and kissed her.

She really, really _kissed_ her.

Their lips pressed together like two puzzle pieces. The hand Alice didn't hold trapped in her grip cupped her angelic face and held her close, desperately. A feverish fire coursed through Bella's insides and fueled her insane desire, her need. She kissed Alice with passion, pressing forward, unhearing to the startled, muffled gasp the vampire released. She felt Alice's hands come up to her shoulders and her released hand grabbed for the other side of that picture perfect face, loving the sensation of two cool apple cheeks in her palms.

And she continued to kiss her, out of her mind, pheromones singing in her ear and goading her on. Though she couldn't tell if Alice was kissing her back, it didn't matter. Her mouth tasted even better than her neck; spearmint and strawberries, hinting at vague undertones of melted white chocolate.

What a taste. It must be ambrosia. Nothing had ever tasted so good, and the texture of them smeared against her mouth like liquid pleasure. She moaned helplessly, tightening her grip on Alice's face and shuddered when she felt the vampire's chest rumble against hers.

It was a warning Bella was incapable of understanding or heading.

She had no thought. No thought but to keep kissing as she melded their lips together and felt her, really _felt_ Alice and her whole existence, her intoxicating presence. She had never felt anything like this, never wanted it to stop, never ever, never wanted the sensation to end-

But it did when Alice let loose a sharp cry and shoved her back.

"_Bella!_" she gasped, her voice a tantalizing invitation to Bella's ears, even though it was intended to be the complete opposite.

As for the brunette?

She was ripped from her reverie like a diver who had swan-dived into a pool filled with ice water. Her eyes snapped open and she felt dizzy, so dizzy as she flumped back into her pillows, breathing hard and insides on fire. Her fists clenched in the sheets and she wanted to die before she even looked up as she felt the heat pooled mercilessly between her thighs, hot and slick…

Their eyes met. Molten black on swirling chocolate.

"Oh my god," she whispered, heart hammering wildly against her ribcage. "Oh my god…"

Alice only stared, wide eyed and unnaturally still, her features frozen into one of shock and bewilderment.

"I'm so sorry," she whimpered out, her hand flying to her mouth. She grimaced when she felt how sensitive her lips were, cringed at the reason why.

_No. No. I didn't just do that. I didn't. Oh no, oh no…_

"Alice, I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I don't know why I did that. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please-p-please don't hate me, I-"

Bella's stammering was painful to hear, even to her own ears. Alice's expression didn't change, nor did she move. She only stared at Bella as if she could not comprehend what had happened.

And her eyes were the color of an oil slick now, shining and solid black.

"I-I'm s-sorry…I'm so sorry," she choked out, understanding finally what exactly she had done.

She had kissed Alice.

She had kissed Alice, who had been in complete control, not the other way around.

_I'm a freak_, she thought. _And that's the end of one of the best friendships I've ever had. Oh god, what's _wrong_ with me? _

With her blood still racing as if it would never stop, Bella gave a choked cry and surged up. She leapt off the bed and darted for her bathroom, feeling as if she were seconds away from being sick.

_What have I done? Why did I do that? What's _happening_ to me?_

But she never made it.

A low snarl reverberated throughout the room and sent ice through her veins, smothering the fire that Alice's pheromones had built into a flaming roar into a weak wisp of smoke instantly. She was three feet away from the door to her bathroom when a cold hand clasped on her wrist and yanked her back so swiftly it gave her whiplash.

"_Alice_-?" Bella yelped as she was jerked back around ruthlessly and then shoved into the wall, _hard_. She gasped in pain as her back hit with a thud, but-

But it was swallowed instantly as Alice slammed her one hand to the wall above her head and kissed her.

Stunned, she gasped again, lightheaded instantaneously as once more, Alice smothered her in pheromones. Her eyes stayed open and she whimpered at the force of the kiss, the way it bruised her lips in a deliciously painful way. She choked out a noise when Alice growled against her mouth, released her hand and grabbed her hips, only to powerfully push her up the wall and an inch of the floor, held up only by the weight of the vampire's body that settled a second later between her hips.

_Oh fuck!_ Bella mentally cried, both in fear and ultimately arousal, unable to verbally say anything as her mouth was assaulted, Alice kissing her hungrily, harder than ever before. Her mouth slanted furiously against Bella's, jaggedly pressing closer.

Unlike before, she was not drowned in some uncontrollable trance. Fear overrode the blinding lust that somehow inexplicably took over her and she stayed sane, understanding that she was in a very, _very_ dangerous position.

Alice had completely lost control this time. Her movements were rough, unrelenting, and completely…Animalistic.

A tongue lashed at her shocked-closed lips and Alice growled harshly when they didn't immediately part for her.

"Mmph-Alice, s-stop-"

It seemed Alice had overestimated her control.

But then again, she had only expected to be bitten, not to be kissed by a madwoman.

And now she was gone.

To say that Bella had messed up would be a complete understatement…

Bella jerked her head to the side, her heart beating a train wreck against her chest. She mewed when Alice snarled, frightened as she realized what was happening. She felt those cool, lovely lips press provocatively to her neck, an open mouthed kiss laving her pulse point. She shuddered and tried to suppress the unhelpful moan that bubbled in the back of her throat when Alice purred and rolled her hips into the center of Bella's undoing.

"Alice please-Alice please stop, stop! You're not y-yourself-_Stop_!" Bella cried, clawing at her shoulders even when pleasure flooded her core. Her belly twisted but fright made it twist back the other way in a much less pleasant way.

_Hell, what did I do to her! Oh god, this is it, I'm screwed! She won't listen, I can't make her listen! She's lost it!_

Alice did not seem to hear her. Her lips peppered up and down the side of Bella's neck, before she kissed her pulse point again, wetly dragging her tongue over it in a way that made the brunette want to scream, but all she managed was a weak sob. She quivered and fisted Alice's hair in both hands, her body betraying her even as her mind searched for any way out, although there was none. She was seconds away from yanking on the vampire's head to pull her away as that lithe tongue twirled a pirouette where her blood pumped strongest beneath her skin.

The way it dragged slowly, tasting everything was a red flag…

That coupled with Alice grabbing her chin and pushing it to the side as she shuffled Bella another inch up the wall, bearing up on the tips of her toes to do so, was all the warning Bella got.

It did not happen slowly.

It did not happen with any other outward sign.

She did not even get the chance to suspect what was about to happen, nor would she have ever expected it to in a million years.

It happened as fast as Bella had done it to Alice herself.

Alice bit her.

* * *

_**No, don't yell at me and huff and puff about Alice biting her. I promise you have no idea what's really going to happen so don't freak out on me and think Bella's gonna be a vampire now or blahblahblah. I bet whatever you're predicting is wrong ;) This wasn't even supposed to be a cliffhanger btw, but it was too long. And also, someone let me know when this passes the T threshold into an M rating because I have no clue where the line is drawn lol. **_

_**Anyway, I hope you guys like the update. And r**__**eally, critiques are appreciated. All those comments about how Bella kept needlessly bringing up what happened helped. I tried not to do that again in this one but I think I might have.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**I hope you guys like longer chapters, because this one was over 7.5k words and written in one session. Holy update speed, too, huh? Hope this one makes up for how long it took last time. The next one shouldn't take long...I'm have a lot of fun writing this now. I think I'm finding my groove, so I hope you guys still enjoy. And much love for the love, ya'll. It's appreciated. **_

_**Language warning here. Still don't know if it's time to bump this up to M. I've seen stories way more graphically violent than this in the T section...But swearing is always around in large quantities in my stories so...I DON'T KNOW.**_

* * *

Bella cried out. She cried out louder than anything she ever had before, with pure terror. Her hands tightened into white knuckled fists in Alice's hair as pain lanced the spot Alice had latched onto just under her jaw. She tensed every muscle in her body and mewed as the vampire dug her teeth in with a low growl and the brunette shook violently, tears watering her eyes as she grimaced.

"Alice, _no_!" she pleaded desperately.

But then, through the haze of pain and fear and pheromones, Bella gave a soft gasp as Alice whimpered into her neck, a quiet sound of confusion and desperation.

Though the pain was pretty harsh, it didn't actually, really…Hurt that badly?

Huh?

It didn't even feel like Alice's fangs had punctured her skin. And weren't vampire bites supposed to reduce you to writhing agony within seconds?

This felt more like, well…A human bite.

It didn't do much, but it did a little to pierce Bella's fear and she breathed raggedly, haphazardly tugging on fistfuls of Alice's hair to make her stop.

Bella blinked rapidly when Alice suddenly pulled back and her feet hit the floor with a dull thud. The pixie like girl stared at her neck, one hand coming up as she swiped her thumb over the angry wound she'd left, making Bella grimace. She stared as if bewildered as much as Bella as to why the brunette wasn't pouring blood like her own personal gory water fountain; she was a confused, hungry, angry looking vampire.

_Uh. What?_ Bella's brain struggled to compute at this peculiar turn of events even as her heart hammered and her body screamed for her to run. She didn't get much time to comprehend anything in the small window of Alice's inaction.

She flinched when the vampire let another low noise in the back of her throat, but she winced and yelped when Alice growled, leaned in, and once more bit the hell out of her, this time right at the side of the column of her throat.

Yet again, it hurt like a mother, but it didn't feel like Alice even pierced the skin. It felt like she didn't even have _fangs_.

"Ow, OW! Stop it! _Alice!_" Bella shrieked, braced her hands on Alice's shoulder, and shoved with all her might as if it would do any good.

And somehow, it _did_ do some good.

Alice staggered back, just barely managing to keep her balance after Bella's forceful push. Bella's eyes flew wide as her right hand came up to her assaulted neck and clamped down on her newest bite, which throbbed as painfully as the other. Her chest heaved violently as Alice locked her legs to keep upright.

There was no venom pumping through her veins, reducing her to bone crippling agony and she wasn't screaming her head off as she leaked blood all over the floor, none of what the Cullens had told her a vampire bite should entail. And she had literally just about knocked a vampire on her butt, a vampire whom she had playfully pushed, smacked, and wrestled with before and whom she had never even managed to budge before now.

_What the hell_, she thought frantically. _What the hell is going on! _

Alice finally caught her equilibrium, of which she still seemed uncharacteristically lacking. She stood and Bella tried not to cringe or show fear when their eyes locked, even if fear was the only thing she could grasp at the moment. You were never supposed to look an animal in the eyes. It showed your fear and challenged them all at the same time.

But it was all washed away in a moment of pure, unadulterated shock that outweighed everything else that had happened tonight.

"_Alice_?" she gasped.

Because Mary Alice Brandon's eyes were not golden (as if), or amber, or a dark brown, no, they weren't even a daunting ebony black.

They were _blue_.

At the sound of her name, Alice blinked once, twice, three times. She stared at Bella as if she'd just been slapped awake. She took in a heavy breath, shook her head, and then shuddered violently.

"Bella?" she finally breathed, her voice so soft and uncertain that she sounded like a small child instead of a vampire over a hundred years old.

Bella flushed and swallowed hard, unable to process anything that was happening. She shifted against the wall, too afraid to say anything else in case Alice lost it again. Her hand pressed down harder on the aching spot where Alice had bitten her the second time.

And Alice saw it, really saw her marks for the first time. Her astonishingly bright, electric blue irises flickered unmistakably to the ugly reddish purple bruises on the brunette's neck.

"Oh my god," she whimpered, a hand going to her mouth as Bella continued to cower against the wall, looking like a frightened animal, like prey backed into a corner. "Oh my god."

Bella sank further down the wall even though Alice seemed to have regained some semblance of control. She was still trying to regain a natural breathing pattern and heartbeat as Alice realized what she'd done...Or attempted to do.

Which was pretty much kill Bella and drink her dry.

"Oh my god," Alice said again. "Oh my _fucking_ god-Bella, oh Bella, I-" Her voice cracked and she reached a pale, trembling hand forward as if to touch the brunette and Bella flinched like someone who'd been physically abused all her life.

Alice blanched at that. She reared back with a gasp that sounded like a fish out of water and took two steps back, stumbling. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, strange eyes flooding with tears, and Bella didn't know if she had it in her to be surprised anymore when they actually managed to fall down pretty porcelain cheeks.

And with that, Alice turned and ran.

Or tried to.

And Bella could only watch her go, stunned absolutely and literally stupid by this turn of events.

_What the actual fuck is going on?_ She thought, bewildered. _I should be dead, and she should be drinking my blood, and I actually shoved her off, and her eyes are blue, and-_

Alice only got about three steps before she tripped and staggered, running at a pace that was nowhere near the blur Bella was accustomed to seeing. When she finally hit the window pane, it was with a jarring jolt and with an elbow catching the edge. She yelled at that, as if it actually hurt her, and Bella only had enough time to think _That might actually be a bad idea_, and then Alice scrambled up on to the sill and vaulted out of her window.

A split second later, there was an audible thud and a high pitched wail that jarred Bella into action.

_Oh shit, Alice! _

She bolted forward despite herself, brain reeling and limbs feeling like jelly as the after effects of all that adrenaline began to wear off. She braced the hand that wasn't cradling her aching neck on the window and shoved her head out, half expecting Alice to pop up in her face and snarl like a wild dog, but that didn't happen (thank God).

She looked down into the darkness and saw a squirming, groaning mass on her lawn that could only be Alice.

And even after all that had happened, a desperate worry for her friend surged up in her and she called out her name.

"Alice? Alice, are you okay?" she called, heart pounding.

In any other circumstance, it might have been funny to see Alice utterly fail the jump like that, but as it was…

Bella felt a drop of sweat slide down her cheek and sting the bite under her jaw line, sending a jolt of anxiety through her even as she struggled to see if Alice was alright, though she highly doubted it.

There was no response, but Alice did seem to struggle to her feet. She did not answer, only silently clawed her way up to her feet, and before Bella could think of what to do, she began to limp towards the woods surrounding the Swan household, cradling her right arm close to her body, bent on getting out of there apparently.

There was no reason for her to be limping or holding her arm as if it were gimped. She should have been able to take a fall twice that height without flinching, but there she went, staggering away into the darkness as if she were really hurt.

Bella made a loud noise that might have been her name, but an image of Alice turning back to her and snarling with her fangs out and her eyes jet black made her swallow the cry.

Yes, she was agonized with worry for her friend.

But she was also seconds away from puking over what had just happened.

It took only a few pulses of blood in the gnarly bites on her neck to remind her that that blood had almost been consumed and she shut right the hell up. She waffled back and forth for a few seconds, but when Alice disappeared completely into the woods, she jerked back and slammed her window shut.

And promptly locked it.

Her innermost thoughts over what had occurred were an intelligent, well thought out and comprehensive summary of swearing, sobbing, and hysterical laughter that she dared not release for fear that it would mean she really was insane.

When yet another shot of pain lit up the side of her neck, she turned and ran to her bathroom. She ended up stubbing her toe on the doorjamb in her haste and spent a good minute and a half hopping up and down swearing in a manner that would have made Charlie slap her.

Speaking of, it was a good thing he was out late tonight doing police work. If he had been home, surely he would have heard the commotion, but thankfully, he wasn't.

When the pain in her big toe dulled enough for her to catch her breath, she quickly grabbed the handheld mirror on her counter and, with bated breath, held it so that she could properly see the bites Alice had left on her.

…And let out a weak sigh of what really felt like relief.

The first place Alice had bitten her in looked worse. It was an angry red around the edges of a ring of deep purple teeth imprints, the skin swollen in a natural immune response. Bella searched and searched the wound, tentatively prodding it, but there was no blood and as she'd dared to hope, no puncture wounds.

None.

Bella had admired those pretty white fangs in Alice's mouth more times than she could count, always drawn in with a morbid fascination. She had occasionally wondered exactly how far the extent of their damage could be, and all of her musings led to something a whole lot worse than this. Mostly with flesh torn apart, a ripped out throat maybe, but not a simple, textbook picture of a bite without even a speck of blood. It looked like she'd barely even broken the skin, if at all.

And she knew without a doubt, when Alice had bitten down, she'd been aiming for the former results. The vampire's posture, the strength of the bite, and her subsequent frustration were proof of that.

Still, accepting that fact made Bella feel dizzy and weak.

Alice could have _killed_ her.

Alice, her best friend, who arguably had the best control in the Cullen household next to Carlisle and Esme.

And for the life of her, Bella could not figure out why she hadn't, or rather, been unable to. Nor could she figure out why she'd managed to shove the girl off of her or why her eyes had been blue, or why'd she been able to cry, or why she seemed so badly hurt after jumping out the window.

It was almost like she was _human_.

None of this did a lot to soothe her creeping worries. What if she still got turned into a vampire despite how freaking weird this all was? Alice may have been acting human, but she was still a vampire, and as any person with the slightest comprehension of vampires knew, a bite from one was like a guaranteed switch.

She spent another few minutes panicking and rooting through her medicine cabinet and stupidly frantically swabbing straight rubbing alcohol onto both the bites at once in her desperation, which sent the light throbbing to a hair raising ten on the pain scale.

Bella had never sworn so much in her life, nor had she called on the heavens as much either.

"Shit sonofabitch motherofgod and everything holy!" she yelped, running everything together like one word and quickly patting it dry a second later, eyes watering.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ She thought, wincing and whimpering pitifully as she pulled the towel away from her neck and reexamined the agitated bites.

As if rubbing alcohol would disinfect a vampire bite…

Okay, well, maybe it wasn't that simple in real life. Normally she'd be comatose by now but still able to experience excruciating agony while the change either worked or killed her, as Carlisle had told her, but none of that was happening.

Yeah, the bites had hurt like a bitch during (and admittedly even worse when she put the alcohol on it), but nothing like what they were supposed to.

It seemed nothing was happening like it was supposed to tonight.

After a while of just staring at them as if waiting for the inevitable moment when she would drop to the floor and start becoming a vampire, Bella sighed and slumped against the sink counter, hands gripping it tightly.

Contemplations as to what the causes were for tonight's strange occurrences gave way to a deep sense of tragedy and self loathing.

_I'm so stupid…What have I done?_

She pressed her forehead to the cool mirror and tried not to cry. Fat lot of good that would do her now.

_This is all my fault. All my fault. I should never have bitten her in the first place. And then I had to go and stomp all over her feelings when she came back when really I was the one to blame for it. And I'm a freaking freak who has some weird weakness to her pheromones and I'm acting like a bonafide lesbian rapist, jumping her like that. I kissed her. I freaking kissed her like some deranged creep. It's no wonder she tried to bite me. Hell, if it _had_ worked right, I would have deserved every bit of it. I'm such an_ idiot!

Eventually, Bella wandered into her room and flopped down on her bed, trying to ignore the telltale throbbing in her neck because every pulse of her blood was another flashback to Alice at her throat, invoking a fear of God into her that she rightly deserved to feel after being so stupid.

She gave up trying to figure any of it out because she honestly had no idea where to even begin other than mentally kicking herself silly for her actions. She thought about calling Edward or her father, but what could she even say to either of them?

Nothing to Charlie. If she talked to her dad right now she'd revert to little girl mode and break down sobbing and begging for him to come home and hold her, which, um, no. That had not happened since Bella was like, five and scraped her knee when Charlie tried to teach her how to ride a bike and the thought of doing so embarrassed her horribly.

And no way in hell or heaven was she going to attempt to explain herself to Edward, especially when he was being a jackass lately.

So despite her desire for answers and the anxiety that had permanently rooted itself into her system, Bella curled up on her bed and stared miserably at her window, running everything through her head over and over again, trying to figure out how she could have acted better so that tonight did not play out like it did, wondering what the future would bring.

Nothing good, she was sure of that.

_And to think, all I cared about was keeping her as a friend. Wow, Bella, way-to-frickin' go. You did one hell of a bang up job on that, didn't you?_

After hours of agonizing over every detail and mistake and worry, she fell asleep around two a.m. after hearing Charlie come in at around eleven. She promptly fell into a bout of vicious nightmares starring Alice that were blatantly sexual and violent in ways that made her wake up in a cold sweat at four.

And so she stayed that way, dog tired and crying quietly until her alarm clock went off at six and scared the crap out of her.

She didn't readily have an explanation for Charlie when he called to her from downstairs and asked her what that bang was outside, but she calmly called back that she had no idea.

He wouldn't see the pieces of her shattered alarm clock lying on the lawn on that side of the house anyway.

* * *

Bella was leaning against the counter in the kitchen when Charlie walked in and saw her.

"Jesus Bells, are you okay?" he exclaimed, eyebrows shooting up. He walked over to the coffee maker that gurgled pleasantly, indicating that the coffee was ready, but his eyes never left her.

No, no she was not okay.

Her neck was aching, her eyes were bloodshot, she'd had a total of two hours of sleep that had been plagued with nightmares that made Bella wonder how she would ever look at Alice again (if she ever even saw her again) and she hadn't even bothered to have a shower before coming down.

"Um," she mumbled, blinking a bit in the sunlight from the window as he yanked up the blinds, still eyeing her with concern. "I don't really feel good," she said truthfully.

She would remain truthful, too, as long as he didn't ask her why.

Then she would lie in a way that even The Band Perry would be shocked with her.

"I can see that…What the hell happened to your neck?" Charlie suddenly smacked his mug of black coffee down on the counter and she flinched at the volume of his voice. She didn't get a chance to ward him off as he moved towards her and pushed her hair off her neck.

_Stupider by the second aren't ya_, _Bella_, she thought irately.

She had, in her exhaustion, forgotten to cover up the bites.

"Uhh," she gawked, her fried brain scrambling to come up with any excuse.

"Those are bite marks! Who bit you like that? Jesus Bella," he scowled as she pushed his hands away irritably, refusing to meet his eyes.

Lying time it was then.

"They're not that bad," she defended, subconsciously covering them with her hand a second later. "Seriously dad, me and Angela just got carried away when we were play fighting the other day. You should see _her_, I bit her back."

"Nobody bites like that in a play fight," he groused skeptically, eyeing her with his knowing father eyes.

"We got carried away," Bella snapped, glaring at him as if he were personally attacking her. "You're making me feel worse. My head is already pounding."

She internally grimaced when he immediately softened. Guilting him was completely unfair and a totally low blow but she had no other choice but to go on offense to direct his attention off of the ugly bruises on her neck.

"I'm sorry…But you two need to chill out. Those look like they could easily get infected," he apologized, then hesitantly put a hand to her forehead. "You don't feel like you have a fever but…I really think you oughta stay home today, Bells. You look terrible."

Bella sighed and tried not to bask in his concern too much. She still had the strong urge to fling herself into his arms and bawl, but she couldn't do that. He'd be confused, and besides, they weren't a physically affectionate pair anyway.

"You said that already," she said, giving him a weak smile to let him know she was joking before slumping back against the counter. "And I think that sounds like a great idea…I'm so _tired_…"

He grunted a typical male response and began sipping his coffee again, still watching her with worry in his eyes. It made her feel bad and better all at the same time, but she opted not to meet his eyes as she hugged herself.

A moment later his walkie talkie crackled to life on his hip. Bella raised an eyebrow at the garbled chatter that came through.

"Mm, that's duty calling. I've got to get to work now, hun. You uh, you get back to bed okay? Get some rest. If you get worse, you don't hesitate to call me alright?" Charlie apparently understood every word though as he leaned in and gave her a coffee scented kiss on the temple that made them both blush a little before he dropped his drained mug in the sink and moved to go.

Bella hadn't been back in Forks but for a year, but she was happy Charlie was acting more and more like a father every day. It was a great comfort even in her distress, as embarrassing and new as it was for both of them.

He popped back in a second later and said gruffly, "Love you."

He was gone before she could reply, but despite her headache and her turmoil, Bella smiled and called to his retreating form that was already halfway to the door, "Love you, too, Dad."

The sound of the door opening and closing was the only response she got, and the smile was gone just as fast as she sank further into the counter and sighed deeply.

"Thank god, I thought he would neverleave."

Bella shrieked and leapt a foot in the air as a voice spoke a foot away from her.

Her heart was going to burst if one more thing scared her like that.

Crawling through the window came one of the most beautiful women Bella knew, Rosalie Lillian Hale.

A shock of white blond hair preceded the rest of her, but a moment later the vampire hopped over the counter and onto the kitchen floor like a house cat coming home and the rest of her perfection was revealed. She landed lightly on her feet and tossed her envy inducing mane over her shoulder, putting one hand on a curvy hip as she looked Bella up and down.

"You look like shit," was the first thing out of her mouth.

And Bella remembered that Rosalie was not only one of the most beautiful girls she knew, but also one of the bitchiest.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded, one hand on her heaving chest.

Life refused to give her a break, it seemed. Vampires had a way of popping into existence like they belonged there too, which didn't help.

"What do you _think_ I'm doing here, Swan? That was cute, by the way. Daddy's little girl, huh?" Rosalie cocked her chin out arrogantly with a sickeningly sweet smile that made Bella have to smother Mean Girls like qualities that only Rosalie was capable of bringing out in her.

Like the urge to slap a ho, maybe.

"Dude, what-"

"Don't call me dude. This generation's slang is insufferable," Rosalie interrupted her infuriatingly and Bella was pissed in five seconds flat.

She snapped her mouth shut and glared heatedly at the woman before her, who only crossed her arms and sneered. They had a stare down that Rosalie inevitably won as Bella rolled her eyes and looked away, uncomfortable with that gaze on her. The blond could melt glass with that look if she really wanted to.

"What are you doing here?" she ground out through clenched teeth, knowing she risked more mocking if she repeated the question but having no idea what else to say.

She and Rosalie had never been on the best of terms. From the moment Bella had started dating Edward and entered the Cullen world, Rosalie had been nothing short of a total bitch to her, and Bella had no idea why. Though Rosalie was a bitch to pretty much anyone, she really seemed to crank it up for the human girl.

"I'm here to kick you while you're down for one, and for two, I have also apparently been designated the official delivery girl because I've been ordered here to drag your stupid ass back home so you can own up to what you did," Rosalie snarked with all the venom of a stepped on snake.

Bella expected nothing less so it didn't sting much. But still.

God, Rosalie was a bitch.

But her words were definitely enough to make her breath catch.

So Alice had gone home last night, and undoubtedly the Cullens had been informed of her actions. She had guessed as much would happen so she wasn't really surprised. She was almost relieved in a way that at least it was going to be dealt with, because she wouldn't last long agonizing over it by herself. She just didn't expect for the Cullens to come get her so fast or this early.

Why they sent Rosalie of all people to deal with this, though, was unfathomable, but whatever. It was what it was.

"You always kick me whether I'm down or not so that's nothing new...Why didn't Edward come?" she inquired despite knowing Rosalie's answer would probably be in the form of another insult, and also eager to avoid a discussion with _Rosalie_ about what had happened.

Really, why didn't they? Edward was her boyfriend. Was he not the most logical choice? Wouldn't he be the most worried, the most upset? Knowing him he would have flown over here at the first sign of trouble and berated her for answers but instead, she got Rosalie.

Despite all their fighting lately, Edward's comfort sounded really great right about now. It would be nice to fall in his arms and bury her face in his chest, smell his soothing scent of earth and cedar trees with that faint hint of incense and dark chocolate.

"Oh, Eddie's around. He's preoccupied at the moment though. No time for his poor little human," Rosalie shrugged, her eyes sparkling maliciously. Bella had the sneaking suspicion she knew more than she was letting on. "And I'm already bored of chit chatting with you, so go throw on something that doesn't make it look like I'm walking a trash bag to the car and let's move it."

"But-"

Rosalie was gone in a blur, the aroma of pine trees and sunshine trailing behind her. As horrible as she was, Bella had to admit she was a gorgeous specimen, even for a vampire, and she smelled as good as or better than any of them. She always smelled like crisp winter air, pine trees and yet the warmth of a scent that hinted at suntan lotion and reminded the brunette of sunny days always made Bella want to breathe in whenever she was near, as did any vampire's unique scent.

And yet…Despite all that, her pheromones didn't have the effect on Bella that Alice's had. She couldn't help but notice that despite how beautiful Rosalie was and how good she was bound to smell, she was still a bitch and Bella didn't like her. She had no urge to be touched by her (ugh) or to…To _kiss_ her.

Gross.

Rosalie was still Rosalie…But then why had Alice not simply been Alice when she returned last night?

She was sure the bite had something to do with her unusual symptoms related to Alice's pheromones, but supposed it didn't really matter at this point. She could only be thankful her strange lesbian symptoms were not present around Rosalie.

_God, how awkward and freaky would that be? _She thought, trudging out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom. She really was dressed like crap in nothing but a mud brown hoodie and a faded pair of comfy green sweatpants that she'd stolen from her mom in Phoenix so that they were a few sizes too big on her tiny waist.

She changed into an old pair of ripped-at-the-knees jeans and a black tank top before she brushed her teeth and hair, not bothering with make up or trying to look good. She could look like Scarlett Johansen and Rosalie would still think she was ugly, so she had no one to impress anyway.

When she walked out the front door a few minutes later, Rosalie was leaning against the hood of an idling blood red Mercedes-Benz sedan that looked like it costed more than an entire college education.

"Pick it up, grandma. I don't have all day, so quit dragging your feet," Rosalie retorted and Bella rolled her eyes, dreading this ride.

A part of her really wanted to go back inside and climb in bed like Charlie had told her to, but she couldn't just blow off the Cullens (and she didn't really want to, she wanted this settled…And she was kind of worried about Alice) and she sure as hell couldn't just blow off Rosalie. The blond would probably happily drag her the whole way there by her hair if given her choice. She couldn't be happy about this arrangement either.

"You're impatient," she uselessly pointed out as she dragged herself over to the car and yanked the door open. She climbed in and was not surprised to see Rosalie already throwing it in to reverse before she could even shut the door even though she had been standing at the front of the car a moment before.

"And you're an idiot. Guess which one's worse?" the vampire scoffed, backing out before slamming her foot to the gas pedal and tearing down the street.

Bella put a hand on the dashboard, not having had a chance to put on her seatbelt.

Another thing about vampires; they liked to drive as fast as they could run.

"Easy!" she yelped, buckling in hastily when Rosalie skidded to a stop at a stop sign a few seconds later.

"Is what you are," Rosalie said sweetly, taking off again.

Bella bit the inside of her lip to stop her retort, knowing it would be a pointless, infuriating endeavor to argue with the blond.

Rosalie was being an even bigger twat than usual.

"So I can't help but be a little curious," Rosalie spoke after a long moment of tense silence while she took a curve in the road hard enough to make Bella brace against the door of the sedan and try not to be sick. "Why are you such a freaky little pervert?"

Bella jerked her head towards the blond who looked serenely out over the road.

"What the hell is your problem?" she snapped, offended and blushing like mad.

It was a sad day in Forks that Rosalie seemed to know of her problems with Alice's pheromones the night before. What else would she be asking her asinine question for?

As if she wasn't anxious enough having to ride over there and deal with this, but Rosalie seemed bent on making it worse.

"My problem is the fact that you have upgraded from rodent-like nuisance to royal pain in the ass within a fortnight," Rosalie answered with heat in her voice that made Bella's stomach twist with confrontation. "Alice came home looking like a train wreck and sounding like one too because of you and your pathetic teenage hormones, and now here _I_ am, having to drive out here and come get your ass."

"You don't even know the full story!" Bella choked out, cheeks on fire now.

Rosalie was blunter than a spoon and pulled no punches.

"Alice may be annoying but she's not a liar, so yeah, I do. And you're a creepy little pervert. What, you have some newfound bi-curious urges after she gave you a peck on the lips so you jump her? Wanted to make her your new experiment? She's a vampire, you idiot," Rosalie barked back with a condescending laugh at the edge of her voice.

Bella had a feeling Rosalie had been holding all this in from the moment she had set foot in the brunette's kitchen.

"You-dude, seriously-"

"Don't call me _dude_, you inarticulate fool."

Bella let out a noise of outrage and locked her jaw, shaking her head at the blond in exasperation.

Anger pulsed in her lower belly and came rushing up her throat in a volley of insults that Bella knew better than to let out if she wanted to keep her tongue. Shouting at Rosalie was a guaranteed death wish.

"What? No words now? Or maybe you're thinking about trying to kiss me too. Wouldn't that make my amazing day even better, having to deal with your newfound lesbianism."

She just would _not_ let _up_!

"Not on your fucking life, you narcissistic woman! What is your _deal_? I know you've got that whole disease where you're a total bitch to everyone but could you please tone it down?" Bella finally exploded, one hand gripping the handle over the door so hard her knuckles bulged.

There was only so much a person could take before death started looking like a better idea than sitting in this car with this insufferable _cunt_ of a woman!

Rosalie slammed so hard on the brakes at the red light they rolled up on that Bella felt the seatbelt cutting into her chest as she jolted forward so hard that her aching neck throbbed in pain.

"You wanna run that by me again, little girl?" Rosalie turned her face to Bella's and gave her a deadly glare that made her insides twist.

_No ma'am_! Her subconscious answered in the voice of a recruit answering a drill sergeant.

Bella chewed the inside of her cheek, torn between letting loose another insult and cowering. Vampires could naturally terrify any human, who were their natural prey, but Rosalie could turn it up to a whole 'nother level when she wanted to.

And right then she was doing that and Bella really kind of had to pee because of it.

Rosalie stared her down so hard and so long that the light turned green and a car honked behind them. Bella took her momentary distraction as an opportunity to unclip her seatbelt and begin climbing over the console.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" Rosalie snapped as the car began moving forward again. "Get that flab you call an ass out of my face and put it back in the seat where it belongs, damn it!"

Bella's escape attempt was diverted as the blond grabbed a handful of the back of her tank top and unceremoniously yanked her back into the front seat.

"God damn it Rosalie, fuck you!" she shouted. "I'm not sitting up here with you anymore!"

She waited for a split second before vaulting over faster this time and Rosalie swore as her foot kicked off of the radio and sent the quiet music that had been playing faintly in the background blaring. The car swerved as an obnoxious rap song roared into the car which swerved in the chaos. Bella and Rosalie both swore furiously as a series of honking horns blared and the blond pulled the car back into their lane while the brunette was tossed into the back seat.

Well, that had been her goal anyway.

She landed with a thump and a huff of breath, angrily muttering under her breath while Rosalie bellowed something indistinguishable at her over the rapper humming "_Bands a make her dance, bands a make her dance, all these chicks popping pussy, I'm just popping bands-_"

The music abruptly cut off as Rosalie twisted the volume dial to zero.

"You stupid imbecile, do you want to crash and die? Goddamn you Emmett and your stupid music!" Rosalie raged at any and everything. "Flip me off again you truck driving sonofabitch and I'll make you my lunch! And what does 'bands a make her dance' even fucking mean? What is the _matter_ with you humans?"

Bella ignored her as she scrambled to right herself in the seat, struggling into the seatbelt as Rosalie was distracted by the multitude of other things that had managed to piss her off during the brunette's bid for freedom.

She tried not to snicker but she couldn't help it. It was nice to see Rosalie experience some of the fury she caused in Bella every time she came around.

Unfortunately, Rosalie heard her.

"Yeah, keep laughing you little shit. You weren't laughing when Alice was making you cream your panties, were you?"

Bella drew in a sharp breath.

She then did what any angry but mature young teenager would do when civilly responding to a rude, vulgar person.

She kicked the shit out of the back of Rosalie's seat.

The blond swore again as she was shoved forward and the car swerved again. Another bout of horn honking went on and the sound of a police siren whooped to life behind them, coupled with a pair of alternating flashing red and blue lights.

"You _brat_!" Rosalie snarled as she jerked the wheel to the side and pulled over, rudely cutting off two other cars as she did so.

Needless to say, it was a long ride to the Cullen household.

* * *

When they finally pulled up, having not spoken a single word to each other after Rosalie received a ticket for reckless driving of which she vowed not to pay for despite how rich she was, claiming it was all Bella's fault, the brunette was more wound up and nervous than ever.

She was about to have to walk into that house and own up for what she'd done, have to explain why as embarrassing as it was, and hope to god they forgave her…

Especially Alice. Her best friend, who probably hated her now. Who might still be hurt, and it was all Bella's fault.

She had no idea how she was going to explain this to Edward, to any of them. With how much their relationship had been on the rocks lately, she didn't know if it would be able to stand it. And the thought of losing Alice was bad enough on its own, but to lose him, too?

The only reason she did not vomit was because Rosalie would surely have killed her if she puked in her car.

They both got out with Rosalie slamming the door violently and Bella wincing as it agitated her headache. When they made it to the front door, Rosalie storming up and Bella sulking miserably behind her, it was opened for them.

"Oh! Well hello there…"

A woman who rivaled Rosalie's beauty appeared in front of them. Bella's eyebrows shot up and she breathed in harshly as a wonderful scent fluttered into her nose. The smell of cinnamon, ice wine, and roses mixed with the smell of a burning log fire tickled her senses. God, the woman smelled like sex on legs. A fiery waterfall of red hair draped the woman's heart shaped face and she was as tall and voluptuous as the blond standing before her. Where Rosalie looked like an angel, this vampire (for undoubtedly she must be) looked like the devil's temptation personified. Her eyes…

Her eyes were blood red.

Bella found herself suddenly swaying where she stood and breathing that scent in deeply. She was swimming in a thick haze that floated from the woman's presence…

_Oh my god, this is what Alice did to me!_ She internally screamed, petrified instantly.

"My, my, is this her? Nobody said she would be so _cute_. She looks a bit worse for wear but that's to be expected after a night like that…Nothing a good cleaning up can't fix…"

The woman was talking in a voice like melted butter and she bypassed Rosalie quickly. The blond looked kind of dumbstruck herself, obviously not recognizing whoever was exiting her house.

Bella's knees almost buckled when the woman pressed one cool hand to the side of her face and smirked as she cupped it, caressing her cheek gently. Her eyes flew wide and she couldn't breathe, stunned by both the woman's gall and her pheromones.

"Little minx, you're the naughty one going around causing all this trouble, hmm? You're like a mischievous kitten…Mm, you'd better behave, sweetheart, because now I've got my eye on you. I like my kittens better when they purr instead of bite, anyway," the woman smiled a feral smile, sharp fangs peeking out under her ruby red lips.

Bella almost choked on her own spit when the gorgeous vampire ducked her head to her ear and whispered in a low, husky tone that made her belly drop, "Oh, and I do look forward to getting the chance to _make_ you purr, honey."

And with that, the woman disappeared in a blur down the driveway and into the woods, leaving nothing behind but a hint of cinnamon and the echo of her coy giggle.

"What the fuck?" Rosalie voiced her thoughts, her head cocked to the side. "Who was she?"

For once, they were in agreement.

Bella stood there looking thunderstruck, her throat dry and her head pounding harder than before. Pheromones whispered at the back of her mind and made her spine tingle. Unfortunately, Rosalie noticed all this and –oh god- sniffed at the air, smelling her arousal easily.

"Are you serious? That slut stuff actually turned you on? Maybe you _are_ gay," she scoffed before turning and stalking into the house, looking disgusted.

Maybe she was a closet homophobe or something.

Either way, Bella's cheeks flamed redder than the mystery woman's hair and she dissolved into a fit of confusion and angst all over again. Not knowing what else to do or what had just happened, she reluctantly followed after the spiteful blond, feeling as if she had entered the lion's den.

She followed the sound of quiet conversation and ended up in the living room, suddenly realizing that staying at home and agonizing by herself while everything remained unresolved would have been better than actually dealing with it.

When she walked in, all conversation stopped. Rosalie had walked over to Emmett, who sat in the loveseat, and draped herself across his lap like a pampered house cat. Carlisle and Esme stood next to the coffee table and looked up from what looked to be a hushed conversation when she entered.

But none of them really drew her attention.

She had eyes only for Alice.

Seeing her again so soon made her heart skip a beat, or several. She reacted to the shock and the onslaught of flashbacks in the most natural way she knew how.

"Hey, Alice," she said reflexively as she had done countless times before, despite the lingering sense of fear the girl had left her with. She did so on instinct, completely forgetting for a split second why maybe she really shouldn't do so.

Said girl was sitting next to Jasper on the couch, pressed snugly into his side as Bella had seen them so many times before, but now instead of leaping to her feet and greeting Bella with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, she only stared down at their clasped hands and did not even deign to look at her when she entered.

And that hurt. It hurt _a lot_.

But it was kind of expected, and more than deserved.

But what hurt worse was seeing Alice's arm cradled in a _sling_, and her haggard appearance. Her normally disheveled hair now actually looked disheveled instead of sexily mussed and her eyes did not twinkle with that light…

But they were still _blue_, a deep, vivid blue that shocked Bella silent as they had the first time. But why the hell did she need a _sling_? She was a freaking vampire!

It was only one of many questions swirling in her brain, but in order to cover up her embarrassment at Alice's cold shoulder and the obvious elephant dancing around the room which was last night, she turned to Carlisle and asked weakly, "Where's Edward?"

Silence.

Absolute silence met her question.

She frowned and wondered maybe if she was going to get the cold shoulder from all of them. She felt as if she were in the calm before the storm, waiting for them all to start yelling and shouting at her for how idiotic she was, tell her to get out and never come back or something equally horrifying. The embarrassment at their silence prickled at her until she squirmed as Carlisle glanced from her eyes to Esme and then back again before grimacing.

He had just opened his mouth to speak, but alas, Rosalie beat him to it, and thus the blow that was to be dealt came unsoftened and with no holding back.

"Edward's gone. He left for Denali three days ago, and he won't be back for months."

* * *

**_I love me some bitchy Rosalie and seductive Victoria...Those two girls are some of my favorites characters to write, next to Bellice, of course. And of course, seductive Vicky always leaves room for angry Alice ;) The plot is thickening and really gets developed next chapter. Oh, and yes, I know, ew, Edward stuff. But it's necessary. I don't like writing it any more than anyone likes reading it haha. _**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Long chapter is long...Sorry. So much needed to be covered in this chapter. Hope you like it because I struggled a little writing it. And much love for the love so far. It's appreciated probably more than any of you know. And I mean that. So thanks to all of you out there who reviewed, favorited, followed, hit the story each chapter, whatever. I know I don't reply much to reviews but I'm generally shy (and lazy) but I read them all and you guys really do make me smile. **_

**_Anyway, enjoy. Hopefully. Lawl. _**

* * *

Bella blinked rapidly and turned to Rosalie, a slow sinking feeling beginning to build in her gut.

"What do you mean he left for Denali three days ago?" she gawked, trying very hard not to ball up her fists but it was too late; they clenched until the whites of her knuckles showed.

_No, no, no_, her brain said. _She's a liar. Rosalie's a filthy liar. He wouldn't do that to me._

"I mean exactly what I said. Are you slow now, too? Damn, we should have grabbed your helmet before we left! I knew I was forgetting something," Rosalie snapped her fingers as if she'd just remembered, then smiled coldly.

A quiet rage stirred in her gut as her throat closed. Never, in all her life, had Bella hated her quite so much. The rage became stronger when Bella realized that Rosalie had known. She had _known_ the moment the blond told her that Edward was 'preoccupied' that she was holding back, and had waited for the perfect moment to really hit her as hard as possible with the news.

This was not kicking Bella while she was down. This was stomping her into a bloody pulp.

For the first time, the brunette understood how deeply Rosalie must hate her if this was how far she'd go to hurt her, but for the life of her, she did not know why.

"Rose!" Esme barked. "_Out_! Now!" she pointed to the staircase, eyes blazing as Bella made a soft noise in the back of her throat.

"He wouldn't have done that," the human breathed, arms wrapping around herself, but when she looked to Carlisle for confirmation with her eyes already watering, she knew it was true. The blond patriarch looked pained and he put a tentative hand on her shoulder which only made it hurt a thousand times worse.

"Obviously, he would," Rosalie snorted as she stood, dragging a frowning Emmett by the hand.

"Rosalie!" both he and Esme yelled as Bella blanched.

What in the nine circles of hell was her _problem_?

"I want a word with you, young lady," Esme ground out through clenched teeth. Rosalie rolled her eyes and tossed her hair over her shoulder, unbothered by her adoptive mother's tone. Within seconds, all three of them blurred up the staircase and out of the room. The sound of a door slamming shut punctuated their exit.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I'm very ashamed of Rosalie; I don't know why she acts so cruelly. But I am more ashamed of Edward. We tried to tell him to settle your problems maturely, but he…He wouldn't listen," Carlisle said in that soothing doctor voice of his.

Bella felt like she was being told a family member had just died during surgery and that, too, only worsened the pain.

_He left. He really up and left. I never thought he was taking the fights that seriously_, she thought, breathing shakily and shrugging off Carlisle's shoulder as politely as she could. _But then again, wasn't I too? Had I not thought about breaking up with him if it kept up? But I _never _would have done him this way!_ Tears burned the back of her eyes as a powerful feeling of betrayal settled heavy on her shoulders and a bitter laugh left her mouth before she could stop it.

"I guess I should have seen that one coming," she huffed, furiously wiping her eyes.

There was dead silence from the other two people left in the room, one of which should have been right next to her right now, wrapping an arm around her and consoling her with her soft, bell like voice, calling Edward every name under the sun and telling Bella it would be okay.

But Bella did not even have the strength to look at Alice right then and see what expression might be on her face. All the pain of knowing she'd probably officially lost her best friend came rushing up again and mixed with…

With the quite curious sensation she had of knowing Edward had left with no warning for his ex in Denali.

"Why would you have known?" Carlisle inquired, a muffled bewilderment in his voice.

Bella felt a little bewildered too. Her heart didn't ache the way she thought it should…In fact, remembering that Alice hated her now hurt much, much worse. The feeling in her chest wasn't one of a broken heart…No, it was a rugged sense of abandonment and betrayal.

_He was my boyfriend…But more than that, he was my _friend_. He was my closest friend next to Alice in this stupid town, and he left me like a piece of trash, like I didn't mean _shit, she thought, and knew that her tears were falling out of anger more than sadness. _So what if we were fighting? How could he do that to me? Did I not mean _anything_ to him?_

Maybe their break up had been a long time coming. Maybe it was actually _better_ for them to have broken up. Bella searched within herself but could not find it in herself to feel upset that it was over, and she knew because of that that deep inside, maybe she had really just wanted it to be over, too. Looking back she had to admit to herself that she wasn't entirely guilt free; she had lost count of the number of times she'd contemplated screaming _It's over!_ in his face during one of their frequent fights. She also couldn't lie about the satisfaction she got thinking of doing so.

But it was still absolutely shitty of him to do it like this. She loved him, damn it, as much as she would a family member, and he left her without a single word. Not even goodbye.

"I think this was going to happen eventually," Bella answered honestly, even as she swallowed the lump in her throat and wiped furiously at her streaming eyes. "But how could he-he just left. Like it all meant nothing. I was thinking about breaking up too, you know? But I would never do this to him. Not to _anyone_."

Her voice was too weak and broken for her taste but she decided it was only fair that she was allowed to sound kind of pitiful, considering the circumstances.

Carlisle's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"You wanted to end it too…?" he said. "Bella, permit me to be honest…I believe you were right then. Your relationship seemed meant to end. He said almost the same thing to me before he left, that he figured you wanted to break up with him as much as he wanted to go. I think Edward actually thought this was what you really wanted."

Was it? Was it really what she wanted? Did she really want to break up with him, or was it all part of the heat of the moment?

Bella closed her eyes for a moment and imagined Edward in front of her, smiling his crooked smile with his thick bronze hair and model perfect jaw. She imagined wrapping her arms around him, kissing him and tasting that dark chocolate taste on his lips that was uniquely his.

But she didn't feel much of anything at the thought. All she felt was a sort of affection like the one she might feel for a brother. And then she imagined him scowling and glaring at her, yelling and balling up his fists while bracing his shoulders so tightly that she could see the muscles knot beneath his shirt.

And she knew that he was right; it was time for their rocky relationship to end.

Just not like _this_.

"Yeah, well. That didn't mean I wanted to lose him. But I did," she shrugged, but the pain of his leaving was slowly giving way to a hurt that was unfathomably stronger, that was clawing at the inside of her chest and making her heart creak.

There should be no reason to feel so much at the loss of a friend. Surely, it was a difficult thing to experience to lose such a good one, but should that really override the loss of a boyfriend? Should it really hurt so much when they had known one another for a little less than a year?

And yet it did. Bella's eyes overflowed again before she could stop them, and she could also not stop herself from looking at Alice, really looking at her despite her silent vow not to after that cold shoulder.

She did not expect Alice to be looking back.

She had expected those strange blue eyes to be still staring determinedly anywhere but at her, but that was not the case.

Their eyes connected and Bella was crying properly before she even had the chance to try not to. The weight of that stare prevented her from comprehension. She couldn't read the vampire's expression. All she felt was the squeezing sensation in her chest.

"And I've lost you too. I lost my boyfriend and I lost my best friend all in one go, and I don't know what's _wrong_ with me. I know you guys only b-brought me here to tell me to get lost and I know you think I'm a f-_freak_, but I n-never-I didn't mean to kiss you, Alice. I didn't m-mean to, and I don't know why I did it. I'm _sorry_. I'm so sorry," she choked out, her arms tightening around her own waist as the tears really began to fall, thick and heavy and the deepest sense of pathetic self loathing closed in around her at her own desperate words.

Edward was just the icing on her proverbial cake. He was literally the cherry on top of her personal fucked up milkshake of bad decisions. It all tasted rotten and bitter in her mouth.

She suddenly couldn't see anymore when the tears began to blur her vision.

…But she could hear just fine.

"_Bella_! Oh, _Bells_."

It was _Alice_. It was Alice's high, bell like voice crying her name and when the smell of rain, butterscotch and berries flooded her brain, she knew that it must be _Alice_ that had flown across the room, that it must be _Alice's_ arms folding around her neck and pulling her close.

_Oh_, she thought, her sob freezing in her throat so roughly that it made it impossible to breathe. _Oh my…_

Bella breathed in as if she had surfaced from a thousand feet under water. She choked a little and wildly wrapped her arms around the tiny dancer's waist, if only to keep her buckling knees from collapsing as Alice embraced her with a soft, plaintive noise.

"_Bella_. No, baby, no," she whispered into Bella's ear, squeezing her neck gently.

"Hungh," Bella said.

Sorry to say that word's not in the English language, Ms. Swan. Or any language for that matter. Good try though.

_She called me baby_, her brain screamed. _Baby._

Why that was the only thing she could latch on to at the moment was odd, but she was drowning in pheromones like there was no air to be found in the room, so it was understandable.

"Alice, remember what we talked about," Carlisle's voice sounded far away, though he must be standing only a foot to Bella's right if he had not moved.

Like before, Alice's pheromones crowded into her skull and smothered her mind in a mad sort of heaven, where breathing felt like inhaling a thick slurry of want, where thinking was unheard of, where Alice's touch was the only thing that mattered.

This was not a normal reaction to pheromones. There was no reason for them to be affecting Bella the way they were. They never should have been doing that in the _first_ place.

What was going _on_?

It was even more powerful than before, a million light years ahead of anything that mysterious redhead woman might have done. The sensation did not creep up on her like it did the other night but blasted her in the shock of Alice's hug and she almost fell to her knees when the vampire abruptly drew back.

"Oh, sorry! Oops," she winced as Bella swallowed hard and could not pry her wet eyes off of Alice's bright blue ones. "I forgot."

"Wha-" Bella slurred, confused, her hands still on Alice's waist.

Jasper appeared behind Alice and pried her slowly out of a pheromone drunken Bella's grip. The brunette let her go without a fuss though something inside her that she could not name snarled at him in protest, her fingers feeling boneless and her legs filled with jelly.

"Easy does it, Bella," Carlisle hummed next to her and she felt his hand grip her elbow. She was eased back and down as her brain buzzed as if she'd been shooting up on pure Alice. She flinched a little when the backs of her legs hit something firm and she abruptly sat down on the couch behind her, dizzy and beyond confused.

Slowly, the trance began to break and she shook her head to free herself from the flurries of Alice's lingering touch. She blinked and shook it again, grunting as her skin tingled pleasantly.

"What the hell was that!" she gasped when words finally succeeded her. Her voice was low and cracked embarrassingly. She blushed and rubbed up and down her arms to stop the buzzing sensation. She tried to ignore the way her lower belly throbbed in a knot, but couldn't.

Jasper and Alice were now sitting together again on the opposite side of the coffee table. He had his arm around her shoulders, and something about that bothered her, the lackadaisical way he did it, as if it belonged there. Alice was grimacing in Bella's direction.

Beneath the flood of pheromones dissipating reluctantly around her, a stirring of joy fluttered uncertainly in her chest. _She hugged me_, Bella thought wonderingly. _She hugged me and called me baby…She doesn't hate me?_

"That," Carlisle stated as he sat on the arm of the couch next to her, sounding slightly amused, "was Alice's pheromones."

Oh, well, no shit, Sherlock.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as if to say _Oh really_ but her gaze was ripped right back to Alice. That stirring of joy blossomed when Alice gave her a weak, sheepish grin and mouthed _Sorry_.

Yes, she was confused beyond anything, but Alice didn't seem to hate her. She was _talking_ to Bella. She had _hugged_ her.

So nothing else mattered.

Hope and a wary relief began to fight for her attention as Carlisle began to speak.

"As you may have noticed just now and last night, they are…_Stronger_ than anything you might have previously experienced. Part of that has to do with Alice's unusual symptoms, which we've brought you here to explain…_Not_ to tell you to get lost."

Stronger was an understatement, but Bella looked quickly to him at the admonishment in his voice. His eyes were kind and she blushed at the look. Apparently, he had not taken well to her fear that they would tell her to beat it.

That only intensified the hope that maybe she had not ruined everything, if he was actually offended that she thought they would treat her that way.

_Oh god, I hope I'm not getting my hopes up like an idiot…_

"As you can tell by Alice's display of affection there, I don't really think she thinks you're a freak, Bella. None of us do. There are perfectly valid explanations for last night, and even if there weren't, we are no strangers to issues with controlling oneself. I hope you'll pardon how early we sent Rose to come and get you, but I figured you might be extremely distressed and I wanted to ease your mind as quickly as possible. And…I hope you'll pardon me from sending Rose in the first place. I knew you two weren't on the best of terms, but Emmett's license was revoked and Jasper, Esme, and I were running damage control here," Carlisle spoke with that calm voice of his that really told all of Bella's anxiety and trepidation to go away.

Seriously. It was no wonder he was a doctor. Bella could have been dying of a heart attack and Carlisle could have convinced her she was fine.

"I don't understand," Bella admitted, looking from him to Alice and back again. "I…"

"What don't you understand?" Carlisle asked, not unkindly.

_Anything_, she responded mentally.

"A lot of things…Like why her pheromones are doing that to me now when they've never done that before…And why her eyes are blue, and why her bite didn't even really hurt me, and why I couldn't control myself, and why she's in a sling-"

_Or why Edward left me like that, or why I turn into a lesbian with the crush from hell when Alice touches me, or how it could ever be possible that Alice does not hate me after everything._

The questions came pouring out before she could stop them and she had about a million more, but when Carlisle laughed she snapped her mouth shut, glancing back at Alice, who was watching her with eyes that seemed to glisten in the light.

Were those tears?

"Okay, okay, I knew you had a lot of questions Bella, so allow me to answer them all in the best way I can. I believe I have reasonable theories for all of this. Trust me, I was as confused as both of you when Alice came limping home last night, bawling like a baby. Having been around for quite some time and having studied vampires for much of that time, I would ask you to listen to my theories and see if they make sense to you."

It wasn't like she had much choice. She was dying for answers.

She was also dying to get up and go sit by Alice and spew out a few thousand more apologies and ask if Alice hated her, but that would have to wait.

"Okay," Bella agreed meekly, turning to face him when Jasper leaned down and began to whisper into Alice's ear, causing Alice to turn away from her.

Well.

She wasn't really talking to her after that out-of-the-blue hug, but at least this was better than the cold shoulder. A part of her was still dying to know what Jasper murmured intimately into her ear though.

"Okay then. Let's start from the beginning," Carlisle hummed and put his hands together.

Bella got the sudden feeling she was in for a rant.

"The night you first bit Alice, Bella, she came home and admitted that she had come close to biting you back. Esme and I reprimanded her for not better controlling herself, but we understood that she had been startled. I assume you believed she was avoiding you because of the awkwardness of the situation, but that was not entirely the case."

Bella's eyes whipped to Alice's for a split second and back again. Why the hell else would she have spent a solid week not coming around?

However, Carlisle had only just begun to weave his story. He spoke in longwinded speeches but in a direct way that made it easier to understand.

Strange behavior began to develop into my daughter whom he knew so well. When she walked, she sometimes bumped into things. Alice wasn't as graceful as she had been before, nor as strong. And though Bella's teeth should have done nothing more than clang off her shoulder as if she'd bitten metal, they ended up leaving a mark that did not fade for the entirety of the week. Carlisle was extremely puzzled and watched her closely. None them had ever really seen anything like it. Alice had trouble hunting and seemed fatigued. But after a while, the symptoms began to fade, and though Carlisle was beyond curious about why Bella's bite seemed to be affecting her so, he could not be certain of anything. And eventually Alice returned to almost normal, and went back to see Bella.

"I believe her intentions were to never let you know the effect you had had so as not to worry you…But then last night happened," Carlisle outed his daughter shamelessly.

Again, Bella looked straight back at Alice with narrowed eyes.

She had been told absolutely none of that. Alice guiltily looked away from her and a rush of irritation bloomed in her belly.

Why had Alice not told her any of that? Had Bella known she never would have agreed to bite her again –which she should not have agreed anyway but that was besides the point- and she also would not have been so worried and anxious the entire week she was gone. She didn't get the chance to protest this injustice because she had to keep listening to Carlisle to keep from missing anything else important.

"During the week of the first bite you gave her, Alice was not only acting strangely, but she was also depressed," Carlisle continued.

Alice apparently felt awful for kissing her and scaring her, which Bella already knew, it continued to plague her nonstop throughout the week. Alice had some of the better control in the family and was beyond disappointed in herself, especially considering how close they were.

"You're one of the best friends she's ever had, whether you know it or not, Bella. You're the first human who's ever even managed to keep her attention for longer than half an hour, so the fact that you seemed wary of her when she came back probably only escalated the situation."

That rush of irritation was quelled instantly with a rush of affection. Bella felt her heart swell at Carlisle's words and when she looked yet again at Alice, she saw a tiny smile there that made her belly flutter curiously. She bit the inside of her lip and kept listening, but had eyes only for Alice and her weak but encouraging smile.

"So though I am very disappointed in her idea for correcting the situation, as logical as it may have seemed, I am unsurprised as to what followed. When you bit her again, I'm pleased to say that she kept control, but the vampire inside her has defense mechanisms that I think were activated by an unforeseen _attack_ mechanism that you hold in your saliva, Bella."

Bella cocked her head and furrowed her brow at him, desperately confused now.

"What?" she blinked.

If this had been a comic book, a series of question marks would have popped up over her head.

_Huh_ sufficed well here but _What_ sounded slightly less dumb.

"If my theories are correct, it is not you who should fear a vampire's bite, Bella. It is _vampires_ who should fear _yours_…That is, if they wish to stay a vampire," Carlisle continued.

When Bella only stared blankly at him, plainly not understanding what he was on about, he went on.

"You've witnessed Alice's awakened defense mechanism already when she hugged you. It is her pheromones, Bella. They are operating at a rate that is so toxically high that you are rendered incapable of 'attacking' her, so to speak. It is the vampiric attempt at making you weak enough to defend against. It is not unknown to happen. Our pheromones frequently increase in strength when we're frightened, aroused, and hungry, but this is a whole new level. They were already higher than normal when she entered your room which I know you noticed. That is part of what made you incapable of controlling yourself."

Holy hell that sure explained a lot. No wonder being so close to Alice affected her so much. Her pheromones were not only suddenly more potent, but pumping out at a rate that Bella's poor little nervous system had no way of protecting itself against them.

More relief came flooding into Bella and she sighed, relishing the fact that her gay panic had been for nothing. She didn't have some weird lesbian crush on Alice caused by the first kiss they'd shared. It was just the pheromones, just like she thought it was!

_Thank god_, she thought.

But then why had Alice refused to look at her when she walked in? Surely she couldn't blame Bella for that. It wasn't her fault.

She was still freaking bewildered as to what 'attack' mechanism she had that was capable of making Alice more human. That didn't make any sense. Why would her saliva be able to do that?

"I believe your saliva has the ability to transform vampires back into what we once were, and I believe the vampire in us will fight that to the death with everything it's got," Carlisle elaborated and Bella only raised her eyebrows, skeptical and still confused.

"So when you bit her, already her instincts were being activated whether either of you knew it or not. Your bite acts quickly, Bella, and was only stronger a second time. This time it did more than make Alice weak and clumsy. Her fangs rounded out. Her physical strength waned. Her grace, her invincibility to normal injury was greatly lowered, and her eyes turned their once human color, blue…But her instincts? Her vampiric will to survive? That shot up to a new extreme. And thus her pheromones increased tenfold and you kissed her because that's what pheromones do to humans."

_Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush._

She flushed red and internally swore, opting not to look at Alice in her gut wrenching embarrassment.

There was no need to bring that up! She still felt awful enough about it!

Okay, maybe there was a reason to bring it up, but still. She wanted to whine at Carlisle to shut up about it before Alice became legitimately disgusted with her, pheromones be damned.

"They physically attract you in for the kill, forgive me for how morbid that sounds. There was no way you'd have been able to resist that unless you had superhuman levels of resistance. But that kiss also only spurred Alice's instincts on even farther, and when you ran, it became a triple assault on her senses. Running ignites the predator in us as much as anything else, and so Alice lost it…But thankfully your bite had done its work and she couldn't do much damage…To anyone but herself, really. It's almost like that impossibility, where an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You practically canceled each other out with some, er…Interesting consequences."

Interesting.

What a quaint way to put it, Carlisle.

"That's it, really. Alice has a sprained elbow and a sore ankle, but thankfully your bite doesn't act too quickly or her fall from that height might have been a bit more lethal," Carlisle finished, waving his hand to indicate Alice's injuries.

"My bite did that to her?" Bella questioned, suddenly understanding that she might really be even more at fault for Alice's injuries than before. She felt terrible instantly but Carlisle shrugged. Maybe that was why Alice was angry at her, because Bella had made her weak.

"Yes, I believe so. I've never heard of a human being capable of doing this, but it's the only explanation we have readily available," Carlisle shrugged his shoulders.

Bella only half believed him until she took in Alice's injuries and a sick thought occurred to her.

"She's not stuck that way, is she?" Bella asked anxiously. "There's no way I really turned her human, right?"

"No, I don't believe so. Already Alice is exhibiting more vampiric qualities than before, the same as the last time you bit her. Her fangs are even back already. What further bites would do to her, we don't know and why you have this peculiar ability we also do not know, but I believe Alice will make a full recovery," Carlisle reassured her. Before Bella could question him further, he said, "And speaking of bites, those look rough. Allow me to dress your wounds, Bella. I don't want them getting infected."

Bella didn't really listen to that as Carlisle darted out of the room, presumably to gather medical supplies for the bites on her neck that still throbbed faintly whenever she moved. Her focus maintained on Alice, who had remained remarkably silent throughout Carlisle's explanation.

There was an uncomfortable silence between her, Jasper, and Alice. Jasper was whispering in her ear again, but Alice only grimaced and squeezed his knee, and he stopped.

The maddening desire to know what the hell he was saying overtook her again, but she only shifted uncomfortably and opted against words. It was hard enough to maintain eye contact with Alice after everything she had learned and she wished for a moment that they could talk privately, without Jasper or Carlisle or anyone interrupting them.

She also hoped to avoid that with all her might because damn that would be awkward, but…

And why was his arm around Alice's shoulders bothering her so much? Maybe it was because he kept muttering in her ear and Bella couldn't tell if it was about her or not, but she had the sneaking suspicion that it was. She'd never had any problems with Jasper but she tended to avoid him because of how poor his control was, but right now he was kind of pissing her off.

Before the silence could become too intense, Carlisle returned with some gauze, cotton, and…

A bottle of rubbing alcohol.

Fuck.

"Um, hey, I already disinfected it, can we just bandage it?" Bella eyed the stuff like it was the devil.

"They look pretty red and swollen. I think another disinfection is a good idea," Carlisle replied as he perched next to her on the arm of the couch and tilted her head to the side gently, gripping her by the chin.

There was no arguing with the doctor.

She winced and drew in a deep breath, dreading what came next. With vampiric speed, he unscrewed the cap to the bottle of rubbing alcohol, soaked a cotton ball, and then swabbed it over the first bite.

She yelped and tried to draw away but a second later he blew a stream of cool breath on the wound that smelled faintly of mint. The cold air took the sting completely out of it and her eyes widened. A second later she hummed in appreciation. There was another sting further down her neck that was also soothed a moment later by Carlisle blowing on it, and then before she had blinked twice, he slapped the gauze onto her neck in perfectly cut squares and taped it down.

This all took about thirty seconds. Sometimes vampire speed was nice. It certainly hurt less than her own idiotic 'disinfecting.'

"There. All better," he said, placing the medical supplies on the coffee table.

No wonder Esme liked the man so much. He was a genius at this stuff. Bella wondered how efficient he was at real surgery and knew that the Forks County Hospital was in good hands.

"So…All of this was caused by me biting her?" Bella inquired slowly, absentmindedly touching the bandages on her neck.

She wondered how Alice still refused to speak even when they continued to talk about her as if she weren't even in the room.

"In a roundabout way, sort of," Carlisle said in a way that showed he was trying not to upset the human. "If I'm correct. We're not even sure."

Bella was pretty sure if anyone could figure out what was going on it was Carlisle and she pretty much completely believed his theory. It made sense, at least.

"And…The only reason I-I um…Kissed Alice…Was because of her pheromones, right?" she fished, searching for a proper confirmation.

She fully expected to get one, too.

Yet Life had other plans, it seemed.

Carlisle opened his mouth as if to respond and then promptly shut it. He frowned in a way that made her stomach drop. She fought the urge to say _Right?_ again.

_I only kissed her because of the pheromones, _right? She yelled in her mind. _Why isn't he answering me?_

Carlisle rubbed his jaw and glanced over to Alice then back again. Bella was beginning to notice it was a nervous habit of his. She didn't even think he had nervous habits before today. He had just opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted.

"Carlisle, can I talk to Bella alone please?" Alice spoke up.

Bella jerked her head to the side, eyes wide as the pixie like girl abruptly stood.

The distinct impression that they were keeping something from her gave way to panic.

_What?_ She mentally freaked. _Why? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Shit!_

"Um. Sure, of course. If you're sure?" Carlisle inclined his head towards her, standing as well.

"I'm sure. Jazz, you too honey. I really think Bella and I should talk privately," Alice affirmed, rolling her shoulder awkwardly in the sling as if it bothered her.

Jasper stood quickly. A little too quickly in Bella's opinion, but that was the least of her worries.

Panicked butterflies swarmed to life in her stomach and beat their wings ruthlessly.

Alice wanted talk to her? Really talk to her?

Alone?

Bella's eyes flitted to each of their faces in her sudden alarm as she remained the only one seated, her hands clenching her raggedy jeans tightly.

"Yeah, of course hun," Jasper drawled as he put a hand on her hip. He then turned to Bella, inclined his head the same way Carlisle did while looking her right in the eyes and said, "Bella."

And then he kissed her.

Their lips touched with a soft smack that made Bella wince at the PDA.

Something about the way he did it really…Really…

What?

Fucking grinded her gears, that was what.

The way he darted in and kissed Alice with no warning, the way Alice kind of flinched in surprise, the pointed way he had looked Bella right in the eyes before he did it made the something that had snarled at him when he pulled the vampire out of her hands growl.

What was his deal? First he whispered about her –because Bella was sure that was the only thing he could have been muttering under his breath over there- and then he did that? Was it all the Cullens that had an issue with her now save for Carlisle and Esme?

She apparently had a knack for agitating the others; that was for sure.

Bella kept the affronted look off of her face with great difficulty as Alice raised an eyebrow at him when he and Carlisle left the room in two blurs.

_And then there were two_, her subconscious chimed in a manically amused sort of way.

Alice still stood and without thinking about it, Bella stood as well. She realized too late that the action was kind of awkward, but it was too late to take it back. They were painfully silent as Bella searched for something to say, uncomfortably wiping her sweaty palms off on her pants as Alice only stared. The vampire seemed to note the move as her eyes jumped from Bella's face, to her hands and back in one quick movement.

"Hey," Alice finally spoke, breaking the tense silence. Bella imagined a pen dropping at the end of her sentence to punctuate it properly.

One word had never sounded so beautifully terrifying.

"Hey," she croaked back, attempting a smile that probably came out more of a grimace.

_God, I've never been this nervous around her before! _She thought frantically. _Think, Swan, think! What do I do to make this right? You cannot mess up again!_

Alice shifted on her feet and slowly, ever so slowly, looked Bella up and down.

Bella felt her stomach dip at the appraisal and the butterflies shoot around in surprise at the sudden descent.

"Well. I think we've both looked better," Alice grinned when their eyes reconnected.

The sight of her smile, as it always did, brought a real one to Bella's face as if she could not even control it, tentative though it was.

"Cool battle wounds," she went on, a quiet but no less real edge of amusement lingering in her voice. The sound of it made Bella want to leap with joy. "Been fighting again, I see. We just can't keep you under control, can we Tiger?" Alice smirked and that really did it.

Bella swore she could hear the sound of shattering glass as Alice effortlessly broke the ice. She wanted to squeal and writhe on the spot but that would have made her look ridiculous, so she settled on a smile that showed off all of her front teeth.

"You should see the other guy," she replied loftily as Alice's smirk broke into a full blown beam at her words.

"Oh, yeah? No doubt, no doubt. You _are_ quite the scrapper," Alice nodded in faux agreement and seemed to be holding in a fit of giggles when Bella shrugged and flexed the tiny muscles of her right arm playfully, knowing how dweeby it was and totally not caring because holy thank god, Alice was talking to her like she always had and it felt fricking _amazing._

"I don't think she likes Spongebob quite as much as you though," Alice waved her hand at Bella's neck and the brunette furrowed her brow, one hand going to the gauze on her neck. She glanced at the mirror hanging on the living room wall to her right and gawked when she saw, sure enough, that holding down the gauze of both bandages were a series of bright yellow and blue Spongebob imprinted band aids instead of tape.

It appeared Carlisle had a sense of humor she had never experienced before.

Alice finally exploded into laugher at her expression and the sound of it, just the sound of it made Bella fall apart too. She dissolved into giggles, laughing so hard that her eyes watered as all the tension that had been building between them was diffused by the return of their usual joking dynamic.

For a long, blissful moment, they just laughed together. Relief soothed Bella's butterflies into calm, fluttery little things that settled into nothing inside her stomach. When they finally calmed down and their eyes met once more, she could see that twinkle she loved so much sparkling in astonishingly pretty sapphire eyes.

If she looked closely, she could see a ring of deep gold around Alice's pupils. She could not help but take that as a sign that things were really going to return to normal.

_Thank God_, she thought for what felt like the thousandth time. _She doesn't hate me. Thank _God.

She'd have to remember to send Carlisle a Thank You card too.

Alice smiled a softer smile at her then, one full of a familiar fondness and lightly jerked her head towards the couch on her side of the coffee table.

"C'mere, Bells."

Bella breathed in deeply, knowing that even though they had broken the tension that they still had some heavy things to discuss and she still dreaded that, but at least now she could go into it knowing that most likely they were going to come out the other end okay.

She walked around the coffee table as Alice sat back down, facing Bella with her legs tucked under her. Naturally, Bella moved to sit next to her, close to her as they always sat together but stopped immediately when she seemed to step over a line where Alice was just a friend and where Alice was something _more_.

Pheromones assaulted her and she reared back, gasping softly. They slid around her, into her, a silent attack on her senses. When her eyes widened dramatically, Alice winced and put up a hand as if to hold her back from afar.

"Maybe-Maybe over there for now, okay? You've got one hell of a mouth on you, honey. You've done a real number on me," Alice advised gently. "I can't make that go away."

Bella nodded hurriedly and quickly sat down on the opposite end of the couch where the pheromones couldn't reach her half as well, though she still sat her body down facing her friend.

"Sorry," they both said the moment Bella was settled and the pheromones seemed to stop being overpowering.

They both grinned a bemused sort of grin at each other and then instantly tried to talk at the same time again.

"No, Alice, really I-"

"Bella, seriously, I never-"

"-Didn't mean to hurt you, Alice, I never wanted-"

"-Never meant for any of this, Bella-"

They both abruptly shut their mouths as Bella blushed and Alice rolled her eyes and chuckled at their haphazard attempts at conversing.

"Me first?" she suggested and Bella nodded helplessly. She was desperate to know what the other girl was thinking at this point.

Alice went on. "I've wanted to say this to you since you walked in. I'm sorry, Bella. I'm so, _so_ sorry for what happened. I never meant for any of this to happen. There are so many things I did wrong but the main one was hurting you, and I will _never_ forgive myself for that. There aren't enough ways for me to apologize to you, and I hope you don't hate me half as much as I hate myself, because that would really, really…Suck," she finished lamely, shifting her arm in the sling, eyeing Bella with trepidation and sincerity in her eyes.

Like last night when Alice had leapt into her room and all this started, Bella was dumbstruck.

"You-You think-"

_Is she serious? Is she really freakin' serious?_

She was at a loss for words. Alice's eyes searched hers and she could only shake her head in astonishment.

"My turn?" she cocked her head forward a little and Alice nodded, eyebrow rising slightly at Bella's surprised stuttering.

"Dude-you have got it all twisted. You _always_ get it twisted. How can you think for even a _second_ that _you're_ the one at fault here? _I_ bit _you_. _I_ hurt _you_. You don't have to apologize-God, I'm surprised you aren't screaming at me right now for doing this to you. I'm the one that started all this by being an idiot and _I'm_ the reason you're wearing that stupid sling and _I'm_ the one who should be saying sorry. And I am. I am sorry with all my heart. And if you think for even a second that I could ever _hate_ you-" Bella cut herself off as the absurdity of it all really hit her. "You're so _wrong_. You're my best friend, and I _don't_ hate you. You're the one who should hate me…But you don't, do you?"

The last question was so pitifully insecure and fearful that she wanted to take it back, but Alice's dissenting scoff was the most heavenly sound on the earth.

"_No_! No, no, _no_!" she stated repeatedly, shaking her head as if Bella had just told her that vampires weren't real. "No. _You_ have it twisted. I bit you, Bella, and whatever Carlisle says, that was a hell of a lot more dangerous than you biting me. I could have changed you-I could have _killed_ you. If your saliva worked any slower, I would have! Don't you get that?"

"Yeah, I get it, but-"

"But _nothing_. And you think _I_ hate _you_? Carlisle wasn't lying when he said you're one of the best friends I've ever had…Bella, listen to me when I say I don't hate you, that I could _never_ hate you. We've known each other for what, seven months now? But you-Bells, I've never met a human like you. I've never met a _person_ like you. I couldn't stand to see you crying at the thought of it…It killed me. I hugged you just to try and let you know that it's not you I hate for what happened, it's _myself_."

There was silence at that as they both stared each other down, each blaming themselves more than the other and having no way to convince the other that they were wrong.

"Alice, look-"

"Listen, Bella-"

"It's my fault, not yours-"

"You're not to blame here, I am-"

"It's not your fault," they finished together. For a second they both glared, annoyed by the other girl's determination to point the finger at herself.

And then they both broke out into self deprecating grins and laughed at their inability to talk simultaneously. This released some of the frustration in the room and they fell quiet, watching each other with uncertain, skeptical eyes.

This time, it was Bella who broke the silence.

"Look-can we both just agree to disagree? Or at least agree that we were both at fault here? We both messed up but-hey, it kinda worked out in the end. I don't hate you, you don't hate me, neither of us blames the other and I sure as hell want to stay friends, so can you please listen to me this time when I ask you to just forget it?" Bella pleaded, eyes beseeching.

Alice still looked unconvinced, but at the look on Bella's face, the fight seemed to go out of her. She slumped and sighed before reluctantly humming in agreement.

"Okay but…I won't forget it. This was a learning experience for both of us. But I will let it go. I don't want our friendship to end over this either," Alice told her. "I think I'm ready to just move past this."

Bella had never heard sweeter words.

"Yeah, definitely…So, we're good?"

There was a tiny part of her that still needed reassurance.

And it got it when Alice smiled her gorgeous, contagious smile.

"Yeah, we're good, Tiger. Always friends, right?" Alice echoed her words from the previous night.

"Right. Always."

The weight of the world officially lifted off of her shoulders.

They spent a moment just grinning goofily at each other, the first comfortable silence they'd endured in a long time settling over them. But a nagging thought niggled at the back of her mind and she broke it again.

"So…What was Carlisle going to say when I asked him about your pheromones and me…Ya know. Kissing you?"

If she muttered 'kissing you' any softer Alice's weakened hearing wouldn't be able to catch it.

At her question, Alice grimaced and rubbed at her shoulder. Bella would have apologized profusely for that when the surge of guilt hit her if they had not already agreed to stop apologizing, but it was Alice's slow, measured response that wiped away everything else.

"Um, Bells…There's something we've never mentioned to you about pheromones before."

The feeling that a bomb was about to be dropped in her lap made Bella tense.

"And that would be…?"

Alice's reluctant sigh sounded like the hiss of its fuse reaching its end.

"What?" she demanded, extremely on edge now.

"Our pheromones only ignite physical attraction in people who are _capable_ of being physically attracted to us…"

When Bella only stared, Alice clarified.

"Which means you're either capable of being physically attracted to _girls_, or…You're capable of being physically attracted to _me_."

And _BOOM_, the bomb exploded.

* * *

_**People were complaining last chapter was a cliffhanger but I didn't think so. This one, maybe, but come on. We all knew even from those horrendous Twilight books that Bella was capable of being attracted to Alice. Why else are we here? ;) Next chapter should be more interesting than this one which was mostly informational. (Hint: Vicky makes a return.) **_

**_So this story is evolving into something that could be kind of long if I let it run away with me which I tend to do...But if you guys are in it for the long haul, so am I. Let me know if you're still interested or if I'm dragging on and way off base and if you're not I'm sure I'll know lol. Both are fine. I'll keep trooping on either way, my head might just be a bit higher when I keep marching if you guys enjoy this story as much as I do writing it lol. _**


	6. Chapter 6

_Fuckity fuck fuck fuck! _She internally screamed.

She could not catch a freaking break! It was just one thing right after the next!

Bella let out a noise of despair and looked at Alice as if she'd been personally betrayed by her.

"And you all never thought it was prudent to tell me that before now?" she cried, her voice high enough to hurt a dog's ears.

"We thought it was kind of obvious," Alice winced. Apparently her hearing had become strong enough again to be affected.

The logic of that made Bella do a double take before she made another anguished noise that made Alice screw up her face in sympathy.

_Please tell me she's joking_, Bella thought desperately.

"Are you serious?" she groaned, one hand running through her thick brown locks.

"As a heart attack," Alice confirmed reluctantly and Bella made another sound like the one of a dying animal. "Bella," she admonished at the pitiful noise and tried to shift on the couch to drop one leg over the edge of it to better face her friend, but the sling made her arm awkwardly bump into the back of it and she growled.

Bella watched her tear it off with a horrible feeling in her gut, torn between telling her not to in case she hurt herself further and curling up in a little ball to continue wailing like a kicked cat.

_This isn't happening_, she thought. _It's not._

"Stupid thing," Alice muttered under her breath and threw it away, rolling her shoulder again as she moved to the position she had been wanting in the first place. Her arm _looked_ fine which soothed the fresh guilt stirring in Bella, but she still held it across her lap carefully.

"I always thought it was just a universal thing! I didn't think your pheromones picked out people based on gender!" Bella told her, her lips pressed together tightly in frustration, her guilt giving way to frantic anxiety.

"They don't. They just have different effects depending on the person. If you…Well, if you weren't capable of being attracted, you probably would have been sent running the opposite way instead of…Ya know, right at me. You would have been terrified, not enticed," Alice told her. She was saying everything like it had the capability to send Bella off the deep end, but it was too late for that.

Bella made another pathetic noise, a muffled moan of desperation.

"Will you quit it?" Alice demanded, but she sounded on the edge of laughter as Bella slumped down so far on the couch that half her body fell off of it and she put her hands to her face.

"So what, I'm _gay_ now?" she whined, knowing she was being horribly melodramatic but unable to stop herself.

"I didn't say that. Oh my god, you are such a drama queen!" Alice broke into a sudden fit of giggles when Bella only moaned again and slid all the way down to the floor and buried her face in her knees, her back to the seat of the couch now.

"It's not _funny_!" she objected, her voice muffled as Alice snickered.

Alice's sniggering cut off for a brief moment as if she was trying to hold it in, and then she burst into laughter a second later.

Blatantly offended, Bella lifted her head and glared furiously at her. The pixie's hand flew to her mouth and her giggling stuttered, but at the look on the brunette's face she threw back her head and howled with mirth, the room quickly filling with her gorgeous laugh.

God damn it.

Despite herself, Bella had to bite down hard on her bottom lip to keep from grinning.

She _was_ being ridiculous about it after all, a true overly dramatic teenager to the bone, but _still_. This was serious and Alice was just laughing at her! This was a big deal!

"You jerk!" she snapped but the angry effect in her voice was kind of lost at the muted laugh she was trying to contain as Alice tried and failed twice to stop laughing for her sake before losing it all over again at Bella's pathetic excuse for a scowl.

"Quit _laughing_ at me!" she finally gave in, her laugh spilling out of her as if Alice had pried it out of her by the mere sound of her own, which, she kinda had. She always did, really. Bella just couldn't stay legitimately mad when it came to Alice, let alone when the girl was truly amused like that.

But still.

She grabbed a cushion off the couch behind her head and playfully hurled it at the inconsiderate vampire, trying to stifle her own chuckling at both of their behavior.

To her surprise, it actually hit the girl for the first time ever.

She had forgotten about that whole slower reflexes thing. She also remembered a moment too late that Alice's arm was hurt and she could have hurt the girl throwing projectiles like that.

However, it flumped with an anticlimactic noise into the amused girl's face before dropping into her lap and Bella froze when Alice flinched and looked startled, her laugh abruptly cutting off.

_Oops_, she mentally winced, feeling terrible instantly.

"Hey!" Alice yelped, clutching the pillow in her hands. "Who's the jerk now?" she barked and Bella had to swear and duck as the cushion came flying back at her a second later. It sailed over her head and she whipped her eyes back to Alice's, affronted, but there was a smirk on the girl's face that let her know the vampire was just playing.

"Still you!" Bella scoffed, grabbing another cushion and staggering to her feet to fling it lightly at Alice who deflected it with her good arm and slung the last one on her side of the couch at the human girl. It caught Bella high on the shoulder and she yelped as if it actually could hurt her, which made them both dissolve into another fit of giggling.

"Alright, alright, truce!" Alice put her hands up when Bella plopped back down on her side of the couch and held her last cushion up threateningly. "Truce," she insisted when Bella gave her the stink eye.

"Fine," Bella consented, dropping it and rolling her eyes. "Jerk," she added a moment later, though jokingly.

Bella was barely miffed now. She wasn't really upset about Alice laughing at her because her reaction _was_ pretty dumb, but she _was_ really confused and anxious and had no idea how to deal with the bomb Alice had dropped on her.

"I'm sorry," Alice apologized a second later sincerely. Bella looked at her then, their entire playful manner dissipating at the gentle expression the vampire took on, becoming serious again. The human girl let out a deep, forlorn sigh and crossed her arms protectively over her middle.

"Alice, what does that even mean?" she mumbled, not meeting those beautiful blue eyes in her uncertainty.

_You know what it means_, her subconscious jeered, ever painfully blunt and uncaring to whatever denial Bella tried to surface.

"It doesn't necessarily have to mean anything, Bells…" Alice answered carefully. "Pheromones are weird. They do different things to different people. All I'm saying is that's the general trend they follow…"

Bella could tell by the sound of her voice that Alice was only trying to make her feel better, and in doing so, the brunette began to feel worse. If Alice was sugar coating it, that meant exactly what she feared.

"Alice, am I…Am I…_Gay_?" Bella didn't mean to say it like that, as if it were something dirty or obscene. She had no problem with gay people, Alice knew that. She didn't care if guys wanted to kiss guys or girls wanted to kiss girls. It wasn't something that had ever seemed to matter. It was who people really were _as_ people that mattered, not who they were kissing or sharing their beds with.

But it was a whole lot different looking out from the inside than looking in from the outside. It was different when she was the one that might be…

Gay.

"I don't know the answer to that, Bella. Only you do," Alice replied softly, her tone so compassionate that it hurt to hear at the same time that it soothed in the way only her best friend could soothe her right then. "All I'm saying is, there might be-You know, a chance…That you might be," she finished honestly but as if the honesty was difficult to achieve.

Only a best friend could be strong enough to be real with Bella while at the same time hating the fact that she had to be because she knew it was going to hurt her friend.

There was a stark difference in the way Alice revealed things to her and the way Rosalie revealed things to her, she noted. Only Alice could soften the blow so much that Bella could really stand it, and only Rosalie could harden it so badly that it became unbearable.

"Great," she huffed. "_Great_."

Alice frowned at her for that and she struggled not to pout.

It wasn't that she had an issue with being _gay_; her issue was with all the baggage that came with it, and the fact that her whole life she had thought she was a hundred percent straight. She had looked at penis and not been totally disgusted. She _liked_ kissing Edward. She _liked_ a chiseled jaw and a six pack.

But now she had to deal with the fact that her attraction to Alice's long lashes, softly defined features, and gorgeous smile might not be inspired purely by pheromones or based on platonic envy.

_I like boys_, she mentally told herself. _I know I do. I've never looked at girls like that, have I? I don't think I have. I mean I always thought Angelina Jolie had really nice lips. And she always looked good in Tomb Raider. And I might have had a tiny girl crush on Hayley Williams…And Pink, but who wouldn't? That's no big deal is it? Girl crushes are normal right? I never thought about kissing them or anything…Did I? Shit, I did when me and Angela _talked_ about girl crushes! And I don't recall hating the idea of it! Fuck!_

"Bella, stop. Hey, look at me. Stop," Alice called to her, breaking Bella out of her miserable musing. "I can see your mind going a thousand miles a minute, honey. Calm down. We're just talking, that's all. We're just talking about it, okay? Nobody's setting anything in stone," Alice reminded her when Bella reluctantly turned her head to face her again.

"Yeah," she mumbled, trying and failing to give Alice a weak smile to let her know she was okay.

Watching Alice's face wasn't good for her. All the compassion there made her heart ache.

"Look, there's a good chance you're not. It might just be me. We hang out so much, maybe my pheromones figured out a way to attract you instead of fill you with fear or something. And I mean, I _am_ pretty hot," Alice added, pretending to preen. When her kidding didn't work and Bella continued to sulk quietly, looking anxious, she sighed.

"I mean, you've never been-_aroused_ by any other girl pheromones have you? I know it'll be a cold day in hell when Rosalie manages to turn you on, and I'll be having a chat with her about the way she talked to you earlier, by the way, but what about Esme?" Alice contemplated, still struggling to reassure her friend.

Bella felt a warm feeling stir in her chest at the protective note in the pixie's voice when she talked about 'chatting' with Rosalie. But it was overridden as she knit her brow together in disgust.

"Ew, no! Dude, she's like my second mom!" she protested and Alice winced.

_Gross_, she added in her head. Esme was a very beautiful woman, no doubt and any man or vampire was lucky to have her, but no. All the no's she had.

Just no.

"Okay, sorry, my bad. That was a dumb question," Alice acknowledged and rubbed absentmindedly at her sprained arm.

"But um…"

Alice perked up at Bella's tentative start and the brunette waffled back and forth, trying to decide whether or not to tell her about the mysterious redheaded woman who had flirted so blatantly with her before.

What the hell? Why not? There was no reason to keep it from her friend. She might as well. She was insanely curious to know who the brazen woman was. Her actions still made Bella blush.

"There was a woman…A vampire, who walked out of your house when Rosalie and I got here. She uh-She um…" Bella's stammering faded when Alice immediately narrowed her eyes.

"Did she say something to you, Bella? I swear if she did-"

_Huh?_ Bella cocked her head, confused.

"What? No? Why would she have? Well, I mean, she did say something to me, but not like that," Bella said, wondering at Alice's outburst.

Alice cut herself short and chewed her lip, watching Bella as if she didn't believe her. "Like what?" she asked.

Oh, well this was the fun part! The details!

"Nothing, really. But her-I mean you asked if any other girl-er, vampire had ever…She did. Her pheromones did, I think. I mean sort of," Bella waved her hand as if any of that was supposed to make any kind of sense but was entirely blindsided when Alice scowled.

"Who was she anyway? I've never seen any other vampires around here except for you guys," Bella inquired slowly, starting to understand that maybe Alice did not really take to the redhead she'd met.

"A new neighbor. Her name's Victoria," Alice answered quickly, too quickly, her voice dismissive.

Bella frowned but Alice only waved her off and shrugged, saying, "I'll tell you later."

For the third time today she got the feeling there was information being withheld from her and she didn't like it, but Alice changed the subject too fast for her to pursue it.

Besides, thinking about 'Victoria' and the way she had affected her only served to make her feel worse, so she let it go.

"Look, none of this really means anything, okay Bells? This is all just speculation. I know you're probably freaking out, trust me, I do. I found out I swung both ways in a time when you were barely allowed to swing _any_ way, let alone _that_ way. So I get it. But you know I'm here for you, right? Whatever happens, whatever you like, I don't care. I'm still Alice and you're still Bella, and we're still friends. Right?" Alice assured her, and Bella's heart swelled a hundred times over.

It didn't matter that she might be attracted to girls. It didn't matter that she might even be attracted to Alice. It didn't matter that they'd bitten the hell out of each other and kissed twice, and it didn't matter that Bella had some weird ability to turn vampires semi-human and had done so to Alice.

Alice was still sitting here with her, for her, and she didn't care about any of that.

They were still friends, come what may, and somehow that made everything so much easier to handle even when she was freaking out on the inside.

"Always," she murmured and they shared a smile. "But is it okay if we stop talking about it for now? I didn't sleep much last night and Rosalie's kind of the epitome of a 'rude awakening.' My head is starting to hurt."

Alice nodded understandingly and stood then. Bella mimicked her movements. "Of course. We can talk more whenever you're ready, whenever you want, Bells. I'll be here. But I think you're right. I think we've had enough drama for one day…Or year, really. I'd offer to drive you home but uh…"

Alice made a gesture to the space between them and a sadness grabbed hold of her heartstrings and played them longingly.

Not being able to be around Alice properly really sucked. It went against their whole nature, their whole dynamic.

Then again, right now being around Alice, pheromones or not, wasn't good for her health. Bella was finding it hard to look her in the eyes now that she knew she might be looking with more than friendly interest, and that was kind of scary.

What if she developed a crush on her best friend now or something?

Oh fuck, what if she already had?

Determined not to go down that route lest she spontaneously combust in hysteria, Bella squashed that train of thought immediately and refused to even consider the notion.

"So yeah. I'll go get Carlisle to drive you home. He's got a day off today anyway. First one he's had in months. Even for a vampire, they run him ragged at that hospital," Alice said and Bella bobbed her head affirmatively. Neither of them had to say out loud that there was no way in hell Bella was going to ride in the car with Rosalie again.

Uh uh. She would rather walk.

"How did you get her that ticket anyway?" Alice asked a second later, barely holding in the sound of her amusement. Everyone had seen Rosalie smack the ticket down on the coffee table when she walked in save for Bella, who had been waylaid by the mysterious flame haired vixen called 'Victoria.'

"I climbed over the console because she pissed me off and she was too busy yelling at me to keep the car straight. We got pulled over for reckless driving," Bella admitted and felt no shame when Alice broke into a full blown grin and laughed. "I kicked the volume knob way up too, so that may have been why she was so pissed. Emmett has some interesting music for a century old vampire," she added.

"Actually…" Alice drawled then, looking both guilty and beyond amused.

Bella raised her eyebrows.

"That was my music. I leave my CDs in the sedan and he leaves his in the Cadillac."

Surprise made Bella's jaw drop and another beautiful, tinkling laugh rolled out of Alice.

"Bands a make her dance? Really, Alice?" she gawked, snickering when the vampire shrugged and mimed brushing dirt of her shoulders and cocked her head with all the swagger of a million dollar rapper.

"Even a hundred year old vampire likes to shake her ass sometimes. What? Don't judge," she said and Bella's laugh came from deep in her belly.

Alice was too. Freaking. Cute. (No, really, she was too cute. Thinking about it made Bella's laughter substantially shorten.)

They sobered a few moments later, and Bella was beginning to feel a familiar ache in her cheeks that she only ever got after spending time with Alice. It was all the sweeter because she had thought she would never feel it again too many times to count lately.

They locked eyes and as instinctively as they did everything else together, both took a step forward as if to hug each other. They also both froze at the same time and stopped, looking awkward.

_Well, that sucks_, Bella grimaced, rubbing her bare shoulders and wondering why the hell she had thought wearing a tank top in Forks was a good idea.

They shuffled uncomfortably for a few seconds, both upset that they couldn't hug goodbye like usual but both knowing the consequences if they did.

Alice looked directly into her eyes after this tense moment and said, "Quick one?"

_Yes please_, Bella thought, needing the contact with her friend to really solidify that everything was good between them now and plus the comfort after all she had been through.

The gay thing be damned. Alice was still her best friend and she wanted a hug goodbye, damn it.

"Totally," she agreed and before she could panic or take it back, Alice darted forward, threw her arms around her neck and squeezed.

Bella tried not to wheeze as pheromones slathered her and made her go weak in the knees.

"Bye, Bells," Alice whispered in her ear in a voice that sounded like smoke and tinted glass.

Then she kissed her cheek, turned, and walked quickly out of the room to go get Carlisle, leaving nothing but the searing burn of the trace of her kiss on Bella's bright red left cheek and the aroma of mint, white chocolate and berries behind her.

* * *

Unfortunately, this was the last time Bella saw Alice for a solid week and a half.

Apparently, her bite required a substantial amount of time to fully recover from.

As usual, Bella was pretty bored without her friend around. Life made for quite the uninteresting experience without the pixie around as she learned when her classes dragged on for hours at a time. The other Cullens were still around, and of course she always had Angela, Jessica, Mike, and Eric.

Still, the hallways were substantially drearier without Alice around. And it was still weird not having Edward at her side, but she was doing her damndest not to think about that. Her heartache had rapidly been replaced by the fury only a scorned woman could muster and she resolved to pretend like he didn't even exist.

Jerk.

She had enough on her plate to think about her asshole of an ex. It was much harder to do her damndest not to think about whether or not she might actually like girls, the thought of which still caused anxiety to rip roar through her.

She just…She couldn't. Not right then. The nonsense with her and Alice had barely even settled; she was not capable of dealing with another life changing crisis so fast.

Yet imagine her surprise when she was forcibly thrown full tilt into that crisis the very day Alice returned…

And so did Victoria.

"Did you guys see Iron Man 3 yet?" Angela was saying next to her as their little group of friends made their way to Biology one rainy Wednesday. "It was freaking awesome."

"No, and I don't want to," Jessica rolled her eyes when Mike and Eric eagerly nodded.

"Dude, why not? It was so dope!" Eric protested. "Oh hey, me and Mike gotta bolt. Can't be late for Algebra again."

"I haven't had the chance," Bella said honestly, shrugging her backpack higher on her shoulder. "Later guys," she waved goodbye to the boys.

"Yeah, seriously Jess, you got a thing against Iron Man?" Angela raised her eyebrows as Mike and Eric waved back and darted off for their Algebra classroom, which was much further down the hallway.

"No. I have a thing against dumb action movies where the main point is to watch stuff blow up," Jessica retorted and Angela was in the middle of looking scandalized and opening her mouth to presumably defend her favorite movie hero when the students in front of them parted like the Red Sea, just as they reached the Biology classroom.

Out of the crowd came a smiling Alice Cullen, who nodded and waved sociably at all the many admirers who called her name and watched her float gracefully down the hall. Generally most of the people in Forks chose to admire the Cullens from afar, instinctively repelled by their vampiric aura, their instincts sensing the predator even if they couldn't consciously, but when it came to Alice, even the most skeptical could hardly resist smiling back when the pixie seemed so sweet and harmless. They may have naturally known something was off with her, but despite that, Alice was still pretty popular.

Bella lit up like a dog who had heard a doorbell ring. She was grinning before she meant to at the sudden revelation of her best friend's return. She had been figuring it was about time for the smallest Cullen to return. Emmett had told her she would be back soon, the only other Cullen she talked to on a regular basis at school besides Edward and Alice.

She was usually pretty cool with Jasper to, but both of them seemed to have reached a silent mutual agreement to not talk to each other, or acknowledge each other's presence. Bella finally understood that he knew about what had happened between her and Alice and she had no desire to address that issue with him any time soon.

It was no wonder he had seemed a little less than cordial with her that day.

Rosalie was self explanatory.

Alice saw her instantly and her smile seemed to visibly change. Her nose crinkled up and it really hit her eyes, of which Bella was unbelievably thankful to see were once again a lovely shade of gold when the pixie reached them and not that peculiar shade of electric blue.

"Hey, Bells," she greeted smoothly as she sidled up, nodding amiably to Angela and Jessica as she did so. "Miss me?"

"Hey, Alice! Yeah, of course," Bella said, delighted at just the sight of her. "When did you get here?" she asked, unable to contain all of the surprise she had at seeing Alice pop up out of nowhere after not hearing from her for a week.

"About five minutes ago. I hitched a ride with Jasper. We barely got here on time for first period," Alice answered, jerking her head at the door to the classroom on their left to indicate their shared first period.

"So you're back?" she inquired, still grinning like an idiot, ducking her head and peering at Alice through her eyelashes to ask her what they both knew what she was really asking.

_So you're good now?_ She was asking. _You're all vampire again? _

Alice sure seemed like it at least, and Bella could stand within a foot of her now without needing to pass out, but Alice confirmed it when she nodded her head.

"Yep, I'm back. That was one wicked bug," she lied with a faux grimace, and then waved brightly at Angela and Jessica when she noticed them just standing off to the side a little awkwardly.

It was no secret that Bella was closer to Alice that any of her other friends, and vice versa. Sometimes they got sidetracked with each other, and even when they didn't Angela and Jessica were only really associates of Alice through Bella.

None of that stopped them from occasionally chatting with the vampire when she came around, which was frequently considering how close she was to Bella. They were all chummy at least; it was just, sometimes it got kinda awkward since Alice wasn't really friends with them the way Bella was friends with them, not to mention the whole vampiric aura thing put them off without them realizing it. Alice always made an effort to make them comfortable, which helped.

They liked each other alright in the end, which was what mattered.

"Hey, Alice," Angela greeted her. "We're glad you're back alright. Bella told us you were really sick."

"Yeah, we know that had to suck. She said you were puking up a storm," Jessica interjected and Alice bobbed her head.

"Yeah, it was awful, but I'm all good now. So what have you guys been up to?" Alice replied sociably, ever flexible when it came to people but quickly getting the subject off of herself so that they didn't start asking too many questions about what she might have had.

"Oh nothing, just wondering what the hell is wrong with this bimbo for not liking Iron Man," Angela replied snarkily and grinned at the scowl Jessica shot her.

"_Bimbo_?" she scoffed. This time she was the one looking scandalized and Bella and Alice both laughed as they immediately began bickering when Angela rolled her eyes at her before darting into the classroom, ignoring the ranting Jessica hot on her heels.

Their banter trailed off and Bella took a deep breath when Alice turned to look at her, her gaze softening.

"You've been okay?" Alice asked softly. "I know we left on kind of a weird note, but-"

"No, I'm good. I'm fine. I just missed my best friend," Bella rushed to reassure Alice when she saw the concern in her eyes, and to hopefully squash any attempt at bringing up the last thing they had talked about together before Alice could make her turn a thousand shades of red.

"I'm glad you're back, Alice," she added and Alice did that adorable smile thing again where her nose wrinkled from it and her eyes sparkled.

"Me too, Bells," she said. "Me too."

They shared a soft smile and Alice lightly touched her elbow companionably, the way she always touched her.

_Fuck_, Bella mentally swore as Alice gestured for them to hurry inside when the bell rang shrilly.

Alice may have been all vampire again, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Tingles erupted up Bella's arm where her cool palm brushed skin and she was glad that Alice had turned away so that she didn't see Bella's expression freeze on her face.

_You freaking lesbo_, she thought anxiously. _Stop it. _Stop.

She quickly walked in after her friend who had begun to babble about something she wasn't really hearing, rubbing at her arm which had sprouted goose bumps.

"Yeah, so Esme went ridiculously mom mode on me. I could barely get her to give me some breathing space and-"

They both stopped cold, which may have partly been because the room was almost dead quiet save for a few hushed whispers, but mostly because there was someone sitting in the table at the back of the room…

Right at Alice and Bella's table.

Bella's stomach hit the floor when the familiar redhead smiled a feral smile her way and waggled the fingers of her right hand at her in a coquettish wave.

Victoria.

"Class, this new student is Victoria Rosa from Lansing, Michigan. She's a long way from home, so be sure to give her a proper Forks welcome. Victoria, if you would?" the teacher called out from the front of the room as Bella's blood rushed to her face, shell shocked.

What the hell was she doing here?

Images of the first impression the woman had given her flashed across her eyes and she immediately averted them, having no idea why the redhead was looking at her like that. Victoria stood slowly, lackadaisically and Bella was shocked to see her attire.

No freaking wonder the class was so dead quiet.

Victoria made quite the picture for a high schooler in a tight black leather skirt that barely covered her ass, three inch heels and a blood red, sheer lace top over a black cami that left little to the imagination when it came to her…Er, sizable assets.

It was a wonder half the boys in the room hadn't dropped dead. She was sure some of them were drooling and she had to consciously keep her jaw clamped closed at the racy outfit. She didn't want to think about why she had to make that effort, or why she could barely look at the woman standing there without blushing.

_I'm not gay, I'm not gay, I'm not gay_, she mentally chanted.

"She's in my seat," Alice snapped, the only one to make any indication that she had heard the teacher in any way.

Bella swallowed as she stepped up next to her friend, her stomach coiling into a frenzied knot in her belly. Red-gold eyes watched her shamelessly, as if there was no one else in the room but her and Victoria. The redhead kept _smirking_ at her too.

"Alice," the teacher, Ms. Shanty, admonished immediately. "That was very rude! I expected better from you of all people!"

"She's in. My _seat_," Alice repeated, her voice hard and Ms. Shanty made a noise of anger at her continued rudeness. The class erupted into more whispers and even Bella looked to her friend in surprise.

Since when was Alice so cold? Seconds before she had been waving and smiling at complete strangers as if they were all long lost friends. And hadn't Victoria walked out of her house a week before?

Again, she got the clear idea that Alice didn't really like the mysterious redhead. Who was she?

"I apologize. I can move? It was just the first one that caught my eye when I walked in. I didn't know the seats were assigned, Ms. Shanty," Victoria said, sounding convincingly ashamed that she had apparently taken an already taken seat.

"No, no, that won't be necessary. Alice, I'm ashamed of you! I'm sorry Victoria, Alice is usually much better behaved than this. Alice, you can sit over there by Andrew. You and Bella talk too much during my class anyway," Ms. Shanty barked after brushing off Victoria's apology.

"It's really no big deal, ma'am. I can move if-"

"No, no, it's quite alright, dear. Alice, Bella, take your seats please. The late bell rang two minutes ago," the teacher ordered.

Alice looked positively mutinous as Victoria slowly sat back down in her seat, looking marginally guilty as the short vampire glared at her. However, her pretend remorse for having stolen Alice's seat was given away when she looked directly at Bella and winked.

Bella burned crimson and swallowed when Alice turned to look at her with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Ms. Swan, Ms. Cullen, take your seats!" Ms. Shanty's voice rose as they just stood there, Alice's eyes searching Bella's face for something the brunette couldn't name and Bella finally understanding what had happened.

_Oh no_, she thought desperately when Alice reluctantly turned away from her and moved towards the desk across the room next to Andrew, her jaw locked tightly. _I have to sit next to her!_

Bella's legs may as well have been filled with lead for how much she dragged them as she walked over to her usual seat. Everybody knew that you didn't take the two seats at the table in the back right corner of the room. They were taken every day by Alice and Bella. They might as well have had their names on those two chairs…

But there sat Victoria, leaned back and perfectly at home, that coy smirk still adorning her beautiful face. Bella wanted to do anything but go and sit by the mysterious vampire that she knew absolutely fuck all about, but she had no choice. If she lingered another moment in the middle of the classroom, the whispering over the mild altercation would drive her mad, or Ms. Shanty would kill her.

She dropped down in her seat and shrugged off her pack, trying her hardest not to look at the woman next to her, who still smelled like pure sex. Cinnamon and roses tickled the inside of her skull and she subconsciously began to breathe deeper as Ms. Shanty began to teach at the head of the classroom.

Her determination to pretend like Victoria didn't exist was foiled when pheromones slid tantalizingly over her, whispering softly over her skin. She crossed her arms on the desk and chewed the inside of her cheek, her knee bouncing.

_I will not look at her. I won't. I will _not _look at her_, she thought, attempting to shallow out her breathing. God, why did she have to smell so good? Vampires were the devil; surely they had to be with how easily they pumped out temptation.

Wait, she was being tempted by a girl again!

_And I'm not gay, god damn it!_ She added in her head, working the muscles in her jaw. _It's not my fault I have this fluke weakness to pheromones!_

She could feel the woman's stare on her, burning into the side of her face. Bella opted to look straight ahead, her shoulders hunched. Victoria's gaze was a palpable sensation, crawling over her, begging to be met.

_I won't look, I won't look, I won't look…_

She looked.

Damn it.

Damn, damn, damn!

Brown eyes met molten red-gold ones and Bella breathed in sharply, which turned out to be a bad idea as more of that ungodly aroma rushed up her nose and fogged her brain.

"Hi," Victoria smiled simply, as if she had been waiting for Bella to look at her the whole time, revealing two sharp white fangs from beneath her red upper lip. Her eyes had been blood red the last time Bella had seen her, but now they swirled the cover of lava, hot and nearly impossible to look directly at and she had no idea why they had changed colors.

"Hi," Bella grunted, averting her eyes almost instantly. She blushed for some unfathomable reason as Victoria's smile developed into another smirk. Her blood pumped harder at the sight of it and Bella bit the inside of her lip in frustration.

_Why is she affecting me so much?_ She internally screamed. _It's almost like I bit her, too! Who is this woman?_

Bella suddenly wished she had pressed the subject of the woman next to her harder when she had brought it up to Alice. She had no idea why there was a new vampire in town, nor why she had enrolled in the school, and therefore had no idea what her intentions might be.

"I believe we met before, but I don't think I properly introduced myself, kitten. I'm Victoria Rosa and you must be, ah-Isabella, right?" Victoria hummed and shifted her body around in the seat to get more comfortable, the smirk never leaving her face as she angled herself more towards Bella.

This simple action did stupid things to the bewildered human and she jerked her gaze away with great difficulty.

"Yeah. How-How do you know that?" Bella whispered, aware of Ms. Shanty's eyes on her as the woman droned on about frog anatomy or something. She couldn't really hear her. All of her senses were attuned to the vampire next to her. She could have been sitting next to a lion from the way her body was reacting.

A very sexy lion.

_Not gay!_ Her brain yelped.

_So gay_, her body shuddered visibly as Victoria chuckled softly next to her, a husky sound that made her belly twist.

"I've heard a lot about you from your, er…Vampire friends," Victoria replied, her voice tinged with amusement that Bella had no idea what could be causing.

"Oh," she breathed, rubbing at the back of her neck and feeling unexplainably hot as she squirmed next to the vampire. "You-Alice said you were new in town. A new neighbor?"

Why the hell was she talking to this woman? Everything about her screamed dangerous, but she was being drawn in like a fish on a hook.

"Something like that," Victoria snickered, apparently amused by the notion. "I suppose I'm the new kid on the block…Or vampire, if you want to be technical about it. Yes, I was greeting the dominant coven in town to let them know I was no threat…And that's about when I ran into you, huh kitten?"

Kitten. Why did she keep calling Bella that? And what was so damned funny? Did she _have_ to smirk like that?

Bella nodded awkwardly, eyes flickering from the teacher to Victoria nervously.

"I must apologize for being so forward with you at the time," Victoria went on, her voice barely above a whisper as Ms. Shanty walked over and flicked off the lights.

Apparently, they were watching a movie today in Biology. And that meant it was going to be twice as easy for everyone to talk…Which included the vampire next to her. The customary muttering flared up the moment darkness shrouded the room.

"But sometimes, I just can't help myself around a pretty girl. You clean up nicely, by the way," Victoria murmured, and then she let her eyes wander slowly down Bella's body, blatantly checking her out.

Yep. That settled it.

The woman was quite obviously a lesbian, and interested in Bella if she could take a hint.

The timing of her arrival was impeccable if she wanted to shatter all the denial Bella was meagerly trying to surface…

The stare made her hot and she desperately wished for once that they weren't watching a movie, and that she was sitting by Alice and not this-this-

This _woman_.

Who the flipping flip _was_ she?

Bella felt exposed in the black leggings and short denim skirt she was wearing. Normally she didn't wear these kinds of clothes, but Alice's fashion sense and shopping sprees had finally begun to wear off on her. She resisted the urge to cross her arms over the black V cut top she wore when Victoria's eyes ascended over her chest, hesitating obviously at what tasteful cleavage Bella was showing.

The woman was absolutely shameless.

"Thanks," Bella finally choked out when their eyes met again and Victoria gave another husky chuckle at her weak reply.

Her entire body was on fire now and she could practically taste the pheromones from how thick they were. Victoria's eyes glittered knowingly and she smiled provocatively, leaning toward Bella so suddenly that she almost fell out of her chair.

"Am I making you uncomfortable, kitten?" she purred, her cleavage showing much more than Bella would ever be caught dead wearing outside her house.

_Mother of god_, her brain short circuited. Victoria was too close for comfort and her entire body seemed to fill up on her aroma, her proximity.

Gay-diddy-gay-gay-gay.

Her reaction was completely fucking gay, and she was too astonished and dumbstruck by it to even freak out about it.

"No," she lied, her voice a high pitched squeak. Her eyes shot back to the front of the room where a movie about amphibians was playing on the projector, the volume loud enough so that everyone around them was whispering comfortably, oblivious to her mild predicament that was rapidly becoming extreme.

"Really? So you don't mind that I'm flirting with you?" Victoria's tone was filled with mock surprise and Bella's gaze whipped to hers, stunned that she would admit to it so easily.

Victoria wasn't even hinting. She was blatantly seducing!

The vampire before her was literally admitting to have more than platonic interest in her and she had no. Freaking. Idea. What to do about it.

Besides panic.

Just like the first time Victoria had come on to her shamelessly the moment they met. Bella should have taken that as a red flag, and now she was regretting that she hadn't.

"No-I mean yeah but I-I mean I'm…I'm not _gay_," she stammered back quietly, finally settling on the safest response she could manage.

Could Ms. Shanty please catch them talking and make them stop? She was a freaking hawk when her and Alice spoke during her class, why was she oblivious now?

_Stop talking to her idiot! You'll lead her on or something! _

"Oooh," Victoria murmured, grinning so that her fangs were shown off. The sight of them made her blood run cold. "Not gay, huh? Yet you don't mind that I'm flirting?"

"I do-I m-mean I don't-Look, I'm kind of in a standby phase right now," she muttered, her words sounding lost and weak as her skin tingled not unpleasantly when Victoria traced a slow circle on the desk with the tip of her middle finger, a positively lascivious expression on her face.

"A standby phase…" Victoria repeated, rolling the words around before she hitched an eyebrow at the girl.

"Yeah…So um…"

Bella had no idea what she was trying to say other than _Please stop looking at me like that._

"So…You're not gay…But you might be?" Victoria hummed under her breath, watching her with her taunting, swirling eyes.

Wow, way to be subtle, Bells. She figured you out in about five seconds flat, didn't she?

She didn't answer that time, biting the tip of her tongue to stay quiet, but that was answer enough. Victoria sat back, that damnable smirk still pulling at the corners of her lips.

"Ah, I get it. You're young, confused…Understandable. Am I making it harder on you?" she inquired, twirling a lock of her flaming hair around one finger.

Bella focused on the screen where a man was currently disemboweling a frog and examining its insides.

She realized she was the frog, and Victoria was the man with the scalpel in his hand, quietly picking Bella apart.

"I don't know," she mumbled, refusing with all her might to look at that gorgeous face again. "This is all kind of new to me, alright? I barely even know you. You come on kind of strong," she admitted, too afraid to look at Victoria's face and see her reaction to that little tidbit.

All she got was a muted laugh that wilted her to the bone.

She looked again and mentally swore in frustration when Victoria's face seemed to glow beautifully in the light of the movie, unearthly intoxicating.

"Coming on strong is one of my better attributes, honestly…So this whole 'might be gay' thing is new to you, huh? It wouldn't have anything to do with a certain tiny vampire sitting across the room, would it?" Victoria ducked her head close to Bella's and the brunette practically hyperventilated as pheromones pulsated around her.

She spluttered so much that Victoria giggled coyly and Ms. Shanty hushed them angrily.

"No," she ground out through clenched teeth when the old hag looked back at her computer, as well as the few people that turned around to look at her. "Alice has nothing do with that…Why would you think that?"

"Mm, just a hunch. She seemed pretty pissed that I stole her seat," Victoria told her when the attention in the room was off of her. "Jealous, if you ask me…"

_No one did ask you_, Bella thought. And was Victoria sitting closer to her now?

"She's not. It's not _like_ that with us," she replied, wondering why she hadn't closed the conversation already. It was like Victoria was under her skin though, keeping her talking and all of her attention on her without trying.

However, the conversation was taking a turn that made her beyond uncomfortable. She sure as hell was not going down that road with the nosy woman whom she didn't even know. No way was she discussing Alice like _that_ with her. She wouldn't even do that with herself.

"No, I don't believe so…" Victoria murmured in a voice like silk that dripped honey. Her new tone made Bella's stomach clench and her leg bounced faster, anxious. "But you wish it was, don't you?"

"What-_no_!" she hissed under her breath, turning to glare at Victoria who was seriously overstepping common boundaries, but that was a mistake, because glittering lava colored eyes were smoldering right in her face.

_Oh my god_, she thought, her heart stopping.

"Look kitten…You seem kind of confused…Let me help you out…I promise I can tell if you're gay or not within sixty seconds. Just-_relax_, and let me…"

Victoria's tone was hypnotic, her eyes boring into Bella's demandingly, unwavering. Bella could not move under that gaze. Victoria had switched on all of her vampiric ability before the brunette had even had a chance to draw breath for a gasp and now she was frozen, helpless.

However, it was the cool hand that lay across her left bouncing knee that made her whimper. She felt the redhead squeeze gently as she breathed sweet smelling breath inches from her lips and smiled that devilish smile.

For a second, she thought Victoria was going to kiss her right then and there in the back of the classroom and she flinched slightly, but when the redhead leaned in, she bypassed Bella's face and brought her lips right up to her left ear.

And then she began to talk.

"So you think you _might be gay_…I'd say you _know _you are, you just don't want to admit it. What straight girl eyeballs a girl like that and doesn't want to…_Get to know her_ a little better?" Victoria whispered sultrily into Bella's ear and the girl's heart shot forward so hard into her ribcage that it almost hurt. Her stomach twisted and she gasped as cool, rouge red lips brushed the sensitive shell of her ear as that strong hand rubbed languidly over the top of her knee, making it throb.

Her body fell the fuck apart instantly and she sank back in her chair, her throat closing. Pheromones pumped in her bloodstream like a dose of heroin, driving her eyes shut as she tried not to lose her mind. Her fingers closed on the seat of her chair and she shuddered at the sound of that seductive voice against her vulnerable ears, coaxing a reaction out of her that she was wholly unprepared to stop.

_Oh god_, she thought. _Oh my god._

Carlisle had told her that vampires pheromones strengthened when they were agitated.

He never said anything about them being able to do so deliberately.

"Would you like that, huh Bella baby? Hmm, kitten? I bet you would…You could barely keep your eyes off of me from the moment you walked in. I bet you couldn't help but imagine running your hands all. _Over_. Me," Victoria pronounced each word like the hum of a growling lioness, her hand sliding further up the top of Bella's thigh and leaving a blazing path cutting across it.

These thin leggings were turning out to be a phenomenally bad idea.

And so was sitting by this devil of a vampire who was reducing her to a puddle in seconds just by whispering in her ear.

Bella didn't even know her. She had talked to her for all of five minutes and yet she could _not_, for the life of her, make her leaden limbs move to shove her off.

All she could do was sit there and sizzle in her shocked arousal, too dumbstruck to move. Her eyes were locked straight ahead on the disgusting dissection still occurring on screen. The man with the scalpel was prying out the frog's heart at present and she could barely see it, her entire attention being funneled into not spontaneously combusting.

"Even now you won't push me away, even though you don't even really _know_ me…You _love_ it, don't you? You think you _might_ be gay, Isabella? What a _joke_. That's a fucking _riot_," Victoria hissed, and squeezed Bella's thigh in her palm as if to prove her point. A choked whimper was the only response Bella could manage, a ragged breath filling her aching lungs.

"I'm _not_," she squeaked feebly, her voice hoarse and barely audible even though she had been trying to say it loud and forcefully in some helpless attempt to get the vampire to back off.

Blushing violently, she sank further down in the seat, her heart pounding a rhythm in her chest that made her head swim.

Victoria was all around her, over her, _inside_ her. She was _everywhere_, storming Bella's weak human system with her vampiric aura.

"Oh, _really_?" Victoria snickered into her ear and gave it a tiny lick that made Bella mew softly, failing to strangle the noise before it could leave her. "Then _prove_ it to me…Look over there, Bella. Look at your little friend, sitting right across from us…_Look_."

The _last_ thing Bella wanted was to look over at Alice!

No, no, _no_!

But when Victoria growled it into her ear like that, she obeyed as if she had no choice, shivering as she turned her head to the right and looked at the table next to them that Alice had been forced to take.

And Alice was staring straight at her, stormy black eyes boring into her.

She gasped at the piercing look, her hands clenched around the seat as Alice glared directly into her pupils, cutting her down to the quick. Her heartbeat stumbled and her lips parted as Victoria giggled in her ear.

"Look at _Alice_, Bella. She's been watching us the whole time…Her eyes haven't left us from the moment you sat down. She's been watching us like a hawk…She's seen me touching you the whole time," Victoria murmured, amusement evident in her thick voice.

Bella's chest heaved, her head feeling drowned. Her ears seemed to swim with Victoria's words as Alice continued to stare right into her, seeming to strip her to her very naked soul. Alice's jaw was locked and her hands were tightly clenched fists on the table in front of her, her shoulders hunched forward in evident fury.

Alice had been watching the whole thing. Everybody else was engrossed in talking with their friends and grimacing at the movie, but Alice had been looking the _whole_ _time_.

Blood made her face fantastically hot, but as she quelled beneath Alice's relentless stare, she felt hot in a place far lower, and mortification quickly gave way to undeniable _arousal_.

"Oh, you _like_ that, don't you?" Victoria breathed. "You _like_ her eyes on you, don't you Bella? You like that she's staring you down, as if any second she might pounce on you like a three course meal…"

Victoria's hand slid even further up, crossing every line that even Bella had never crossed with Edward. Her fingers dipped into the soft flesh of her thigh that she found and pressed down, causing a choked noise to tumble out of her lips. She gaped and trembled when Alice's upper lip curled back in a silent snarl.

"Look her right in the eyes, Bella, and tell me you don't like it. Look your precious best friend in the eyes and tell me you don't _want_ her. I can _smell_ your desire. You're lying to yourself if you think you aren't gay. You're a filthy liar, and you know it, and I know it, and _Alice_ knows it. Why do you think she won't look away either? Why do you think she was looking in the _first_ place?"

Victoria might as well have been the serpent in the Garden of Eden, whispering in her ear and corrupting her. She was Eve, and she couldn't tell if Alice was supposed to be Adam or the apple.

Bella was going to pass out.

She could feel the black creeping up on the edges of her vision as Alice tore her apart with her unfathomable glare and Victoria's hand crept ever higher, dipping inward towards the inside of her thigh, drawing her toes to curl and her body to shake.

Without meaning to, Bella gave a barely muted moan, her brow furrowing and her skin flushing. Alice's upper lip twitched and her head jerked downwards a little, and yet she _still_ didn't look away.

"But if you're still somehow having doubts sweetheart, allow me to squash them...Just. Like. _This_."

And with that, the palm of Victoria's hand pressed flush to the apex of her thighs.

The sudden temperature contrast of the vampire's cool hand on the suffocating heat radiating through the thin cotton barrier of her underwear beneath her skirt was a bitch slap back to reality.

Bella jolted upright instantly, spluttering and swearing as she shoved away from Victoria frantically. She staggered out of her seat, her knees giving so suddenly that she almost hit the floor, but of _course_, Alice never let that happen.

She felt two icy hands clamp down on her right arm and hold her steady as her seat clattered and Victoria sneered, crossing her legs and looking serenely at the both of them.

"Ms. Swan, Ms. Rosa, Ms. Cullen, what is the fuss back there?" Ms. Shanty started at the outburst as everyone turned around to look at them.

No, no, no.

Being touched by Alice was the _last_ thing she needed right then. She could feel the girl's touch electrocuting her arm, smell her lovely mint and berry scent, taste her pheromones…

"I have to go to the bathroom!" Bella shrieked and ripped away from her friend desperately before bolting for the door like a bat out of hell.

She ignored Ms. Shanty yelling at her furiously, threatening detention, but all she really heard was Alice's high voice call her name.

She didn't stop for that either, just kept sprinting down the hallway, the sound of her flats slapping the floor echoing maddeningly around her in the silence. Her whole body was on fire when she burst into the nearest bathroom moments later, skidding in and slamming the door shut behind her.

"Fuck," she whimpered, running a hand through her hair and hating how sweaty it felt. "Just _fuck_."

_What just happened?_ Her poor brain had finally surged back to life now that it was out from under Victoria's treacherous influence.

She had the presence of mind to quickly walk by the stalls and check for feet, but seeing none, she finally walked back to the middle most sink and fell into it, gripping the white porcelain until it hurt, staring into the mirror at her haggard appearance.

Her pupils were dilated and her normally milk chocolate irises were now the color of dark chocolate. Her face was red and flushed and her chest was heaving from both the run and what had happened in the classroom. Her hair was messy from where she'd run her hand through it and she could feel a distinct slickness between her thighs that made her screw her eyes shut.

"I'm not gay," she whimpered to herself. "I'm not gay, I'm not gay, I'm not _gay_…"

Bella could say it all she wanted, but Victoria had quite clearly made the point that she was, and all the evidence was right there pooled between her legs. She didn't even believe it when she said it anymore, and her voice trailed off as she opened her eyes with a pitiful noise akin to the ones she had made when Alice had first brought up the possibility to her.

It all played back in her mind like some sick horror film; Victoria taunting her, touching her, running her hand provocatively over her leg and pressing down on her intimately where previously only Bella had ever touched herself.

But it wasn't even that that really got to her, surprisingly. (Okay, well, that was a lie; Victoria had gotten so deep under her skin that she could still pretty much feel her.)

Yet all she could really remember clearly were Alice's eyes on her, and how she had not looked away through the entirety of the ordeal, and how Bella had only really lost herself when she turned to her best friend and saw the look on her face as she watched Victoria effectively molest her.

And how seeing Alice had undeniably turned her completely and utterly _on_.

"I am so fucking gay," she groaned.

She then promptly dropped her forehead into the mirror with a dull _thump _and began to cry.

* * *

**_This chapter is even longer than the others, and seriously, if you guys want them shorter, I can cut them down. I could have split this into two after Alice and Bella's talk, but I didn't. Just let me know. _**

**_Oh, and ATTENTION: This story is probably getting bumped up to M after this chapter because I feel like I'm toeing the line right now, just so all of you who don't have it faved or followed know that you won't be able to find it in the T section anymore. _**


	7. Chapter 7

Bella's crying was promptly interrupted by the shrill around of the bell ringing to signify the end of first period. It startled her enough to jump and she quickly began wiping at her eyes, knowing she had all of about thirty seconds before girls began to swarm the locked bathroom as they always did between periods.

"Bella?"

Or maybe even _less_ than thirty seconds.

Bella recognized the voice to be Alice's, for no one else had such a high, sweet voice. There came the quiet sound of the vampire obviously trying the doorknob, and then a gentle knock followed that.

All of this served to restart the frantic pace her heart had been set at after it had only just calmed down.

_Hell. Hell, hell, hell! I don't want to talk to her like this! _Bella thought desperately, looking at the door as if it were caught on fire. _How am I supposed to even look her in the eyes after that little exchange?_

She resolved to do the most logical thing, which was to close her eyes and hopelessly pretend as if she simply did not exist.

Surprisingly, it didn't work.

"Bella, honey, please open the door. I know you're in there. I just want to talk," Alice called again and gave another light knock.

"Who freaking locked themselves in the bathroom?" a shrill voice rang out.

"My friend," Alice's muffled voice responded. "She's sick."

"I don't care, and neither do the rest of us. Seriously, some of us have stupid teachers who won't let us go in class and can't go any other time. Tell her to open the fucking door!"

"I'm trying, in case you hadn't noticed," Alice said with barely veiled patience.

There were precious few things that made Alice angry, especially quickly, mostly because she was so sweet tempered and kind. Rudeness was one of those things, and apparently, the girl was full of that particular quality.

"Well, try harder. We seriously have to go out here!" the unknown girl snapped. "This is ridiculous!"

"No, what's ridiculous is how insensitive you are. And _rude_. There are four other bathrooms in this school, and one of those is right down the hall. You and your friends can go use those," Alice's voice tightened as the girl's voice rose a few annoying pitches.

"That's a waste of freaking time! This is the closest one!"

"It's a bigger waste of time for you to sit here and whine at me when I'm doing all I can!" Alice's scowl was visible purely by the sound of her voice. Bella knew by what little experience she had from hearing the tiny vampire become irritated that she was losing her patience.

And apparently, so had the girl.

There came a raucous banging on the door a second later that made Bella flinch. "Hey, bitch! No one cares if you're puking! Open the fuck up! Some of us have to go out here!"

"Are you out of your mind? _Stop_ it. She's _sick_!" Alice's voice rose instantly and the banging was abruptly cut off.

"Hey, don't you put your hands on me, Cullen-"

"_Beat_ it, Cassie. You're starting to piss me off!"

Bella blinked at the hard quality Alice's tone had taken on. That was one she hadn't really heard before.

"Did you seriously just push her?" a different preppy voice came to life beyond the blocking door. "Jeez, it must be her girlfriend in there, that weird Bella chick she's always hanging out with. Who else would she get so butch over?"

"Oh, is that it? Your _best buddy_ Bella is hurling and you're running lesbian guard duty? God, Alice, we wondered after seeing you guys hang out all the time, but this is a whole new level of obvious." The air quotes around 'best buddy' were understood and Bella turned crimson even though no one could see her.

Did _everybody_ look at their friendship like that? This was quite possibly the worst time for her to find that out…

Everybody knew Alice was supposedly bisexual, but considering it was only rumors despite the truth of those rumors, no one really cared, especially because of how nice she was. But if they suspected Bella was gay for hanging out with her, that was a different story…

There was a brief moment of silence in which Bella fidgeted, debating whether or not she should just end this nonsense and stop being a chicken shit, go open the door, but Alice beat her to action.

"I don't know what either of you are talking about, but if all three of you don't turn around and walk away _right_ now, we are going to have an _issue_," Alice said very slowly and very deliberately, her tone of voice raising the hairs on the back of Bella's neck.

Alice Cullen was officially agitated, and Bella felt a chill run up her spine thinking about it.

"You don't scare me, Cullen," Cassie responded, though she didn't sound too sure. Bella recognized her now that Alice had named the girls. Cassie and Lauren were Forks' notorious preppy clique who generally preferred to look and act like they had just walked out of a stereotypical high school movie where they played the hot, bitchy villain girls that everyone pretended to love but actually hated. And if that was Cassie and Lauren, the third girl must be Sophie, the third in their trio of idiocy. How cliché their usual drama was always grated on Bella, and she knew now why Alice was losing her usual unshakable calm.

Even a monk would lose his temper with those idiots.

"I'm not trying to _scare_ you," Alice ground out through clenched teeth. "I'm trying to take care of my friend and you all are acting _asinine_."

"Did she just call us asses?" Lauren said.

Well…She _was_ the blond of the group.

"No, Lauren, don't be stupid. I don't know what that means, Cullen. Just stop being such a _dyke_ and make her open the damn door!" Cassie asserted, pulling her pathetic HBIC voice that made Bella feel like she was experiencing an aneurism every time.

But she chose her words very, very poorly.

"_Don't_ call me that. Don't you _fucking_ dare," Alice snarled in a voice like solid ice, in a tone Bella had never even dreamed her capable of.

_Oh shit_, Bella thought, her heart skipping a beat. She let go of the sink, hearing the danger where other people might not have.

That was the sound of an angry vampire, and an angry vampire, especially one like Alice who never got angry, could not bode well. The fact that the girl had actually sworn with real venom was a seriously bad sign. Without giving herself a second to hesitate, she bolted for the door and fumbled with the lock before yanking the door open.

She came face to face with a genuine standoff. Alice stood in front of the door with her back to the brunette. Bella could see her shoulder blades and how they had pulled together beneath her off the shoulder, white shirt-a clear sign that she was bowing up.

No, that was definitely _not_ good.

It was bad enough when a group of immature teenagers bowed up on each other, but if a vampire was posturing, that was _never_ good. She glanced down and saw Alice's hands had splayed and her fingers were slightly curved, the vampiric version of clenched fists.

Jesus, they had royally pissed her _off_.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what exactly they had said that had infuriated Alice so much. Rudeness was one of the precious few things that angered her gentle friend. Homophobia was another one.

Calling her a dyke was probably a tiny step below spitting in her face, and Bella's worry tripled at the tension radiating off her normally calm friend.

"Alice," she called, instinctively laying a hand on her best friend's shoulder, concern flooding her as she saw her friend legitimately angry for the first time. She blanched when she felt the cool, smooth skin beneath her palm and the way Alice twitched at her touch but did not shrug her hand away.

Okay, she could be anxious all she wanted about what was currently happening, but none of that erased what had happened like five minutes ago in Biology, or the way her palm tingled against Alice's shoulder.

Cassie, Lauren, and Sophie were all standing in front of the agitated vampire with their arms folded and looking uncertain, suddenly wary of the pixie in front of them. The traffic in the hallway had come to a halt as everyone watched the shouting match.

Bella couldn't see Alice's face, but she could bet that the girl must be scowling up a storm. She was mildly impressed that the three girls hadn't turned tail and run yet…But by the looks on their faces and they way they squirmed as Alice stared them down, they were seriously contemplating it.

Time to act before things got really out of hand.

"Hey, sorry about that guys. I haven't been feeling good. I must have caught something. I guess it was dumb to lock the door like that…" Bella trailed away, her feeble attempt at diffusing the tension dying when they all rolled their eyes and scoffed.

Even Rosalie would be impressed with their bitchy attitudes.

"Caught something from your girlfriend here," Cassie snorted, glaring at her, and Bella blushed, her hand immediately sliding from Alice's shoulder.

The bell rang just as Bella swore she heard a low rumble coming from Alice's chest, but her growl was smothered by the oppressive ringing. All three of the girls looked around in alarm and then groaned.

"God, see what you two did?" Cassie scowled before turning and storming away. "Gonna be fucking late now, thanks, and now I'm going to have to piss all next period because Mr. Gates never lets anyone go."

Lauren dutifully followed after her leader, throwing a heated look back at them but not saying anything. Sophie was the last to go, but as she did, she finally spoke up, normally being the quietest of the three but with a beautiful model face and haughty air that matched them perfectly.

"You should put a leash on her, Swan. No one wants a bitch like that running around and trying to hump all the normal girls and convert them," Sophie drawled, her dark eyes glinting maliciously as she stalked after her friends, flipping her long brown hair over one shoulder.

She was also known to be the witty, smart one of the group, and Bella actually grabbed Alice by the arm when the vampire's hands snapped closed into fists and her shoulders hunched up further.

"Don't," she whispered as all the watching students quickly began to disperse, not wanting to be late if there was to be no actual fight. "She's not worth it. None of them are, Alice."

Alice didn't say anything, but after a few tense seconds, her shoulders slumped and she turned around, her eyes a dull brass color, an indication of her heightened emotions. Her face softened at the worried look on Bella's face and she gave her a weak smile, halfheartedly attempting to reassure her.

She then promptly but gently pushed Bella back into the bathroom and shut and locked the door behind them. Bella stumbled a little but immediately tensed when she heard the lock click on the door.

_Shit_, she thought, blushing even though she had no real reason to as Alice leaned back against it and sighed, rubbing at the back of her neck.

"Are you okay?" she asked despite herself, hating the agitated look on the pixie's face.

That face should never be anything but happy. Anything else just looked entirely wrong on her lovely features.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine Bells. It's just-" Alice looked up at the question, folding her arms a moment later and rolling her eyes. "Sometimes even bratty teenage girls can get to me. They have no idea the real connotations of that word. I just can't stand...You know what, it's whatever. They're stupid, and they're gone now. I didn't knock on the door to play catfight with them, I came to check on _you, _Bella."

Well damn, there went her plans of directing the conversation on to Alice's altercation with the school's resident bitch clique instead of that _woman_.

Victoria…

"I'm fine," Bella stated quickly, too quickly for it to be anything but false. She winced at her own lack of tact as Alice raised an eyebrow at her.

_Smooth, Swan_, she internally berated herself.

"Right," she drawled slowly, lifting up off the door a moment later. She walked over cautiously, watching Bella with knowing eyes that made the brunette's cheeks burn. Alice leaned against the sink next to her friend, resting her lower back against it and her hands behind her on it.

"No, really. I'm good. I just really had to go. Stomachache, ya know? Charlie made breakfast this morning and you know how bad a cook he is," Bella waved her hand flippantly and only flushed again when Alice immediately snorted.

The vampire stared her down, her expression clearly saying _Do you think I'm stupid?_

_No, _Bella wanted to say._ No, I think I really don't want to talk about this. _

"Bella," she huffed, frowning when the brunette squirmed uncomfortably, avoiding her eyes. "Are we really going to play that game right now?"

Bella waffled back and forth before crossing her arms protectively over her middle. Hesitantly, she met Alice's eyes, all the fight going out of her the moment she did, which is why she had been avoiding doing so in the first place.

"No," she answered miserably, giving in. Alice watched her carefully, trying to read her.

"Bells, honey, stop looking at me like that. It's just me. You can talk to me," Alice said sincerely as Bella sulked, dreading every next word. "We both know what happened, okay? Let's not beat around the bush. You know that's not really our style."

_No, that's not _your_ style_, Bella thought. _I will happily beat around the bush. I don't want to ever _touch_ that bush. Fuck that bush. _

Alice was always the one with the proverbial balls. She never liked to ignore the elephant in the room and would bring it up in a way that there was no getting around it, plowing ahead through all the awkwardness.

Bella would happily ignore the elephant in the room even as it trampled all over her, screaming its elephant cry.

"Why is that _woman_ here?" she blurted instead of voicing her petulant and sarcastically unhelpful thoughts.

Alice's face darkened, even though she was the one who had insisted they talk about it.

"What did she say to you?" Alice inquired instead of answering Bella's question, scowling.

At this, Bella cocked her head, her curiosity stirring at Alice's continued peculiar reaction to the mere mention of Victoria.

"You couldn't hear her?" she cocked her head. Vampires could hear the softest whispers usually. If Bella could hear her then surely Alice should have been able to.

"No," Alice replied shortly, looking annoyed about it. "She was talking as quietly as she possibly could to you, there was a movie playing, and my senses won't be a hundred percent as sharp as usual until tomorrow. All I heard was really vague muttering and the occasional word."

Even though Alice didn't seem too happy that she had not been able to really catch what Victoria had been whispering, Bella was practically ecstatic. It was a thousand times less embarrassing if Alice had not heard all the lewd murmurings Victoria had let loose. Her mortification was soothed if only a little at this news, but she knew she wasn't out of the pot of boiling water yet, so to speak.

"Um…" Bella floundered for an answer that wouldn't stick her tongue to the roof of her mouth in embarrassment. She debated being truthful about it, but found she couldn't get the words out of her mouth as she stared at her best friend and the irritable expression she wore. "Nothing really."

Alice gave her another do-you-think-I-was-born-yesterday look and she shuffled awkwardly, feeling stupid as she rested her hip against the sink counter next to the one Alice continued to lean on. The vampire crossed her arms and chewed at her bottom lip.

Bella's eyes followed the movement, but after imagining a wrecking ball smashing her across the back of the head, she quit.

Nope.

Not even gonna go there right now.

"Why are you lying to me?" Alice finally said, her voice sounding quiet but no less…Hurt.

Guilt swashed Bella's insides hotly instantly and she bit her own bottom lip.

"I'm not," she protested, even though she technically was.

God, Alice looked like a kicked puppy. Screw it, Bella would tell the truth and her own embarrassment be damned. She wasn't going to sit here and lie to her best friend (especially so poorly). She never had before and she wouldn't start now.

"She…Look, I don't know, alright? She said a lot of stuff. She was-she was hitting on me, okay? And she-"

Nobody could say she didn't _try_ to tell the truth. Why was Alice asking anyway? Could she not deduce it from simply looking at them? Surely Victoria's hand placement hadn't been _that_ hidden.

"She was touching my leg, and I didn't know how to react. She's a _vampire_, and she was pumping out pheromones like a-a-an _I don't know_ what, but she was doing it, and you know I've been struggling with the gay stuff so I…" She trailed away, averting her eyes and swallowing hard at the way Alice immediately softened in that way she always did when Bella got upset.

"Who is she, Alice? And don't just blow me off again," she added when Alice automatically opened her mouth, a readymade response seemingly at hand. At that, though, she shut it again and sighed before running a hand through her short, messy black locks.

When she pushed her hair away from her face like that, Bella could really see it and how big and beautiful Alice's dark amber eyes really were.

The wrecking ball came around for another swing in her mind and plowed her through the wall this time.

_Stop it_, she thought desperately_. You pervert. Stop. That's _Alice_ you're looking at. You're gay for less than ten minutes and already looking at her like that?_

"She's a new vampire in town," Alice finally spoke, looking entirely reluctant. Bella already knew that, but she stayed patient.

Her patience was for naught, however, because Alice didn't say anything else. When the vampire was not any more forthcoming, Bella raised her eyebrows at her and she scowled.

"Ugh, what do you want me to say, Bells? She's gay, obviously. She has the hots for you. And I don't like her," Alice growled and the brunette furrowed her brows. Alice wasn't telling her anything she didn't already know.

"Why?" she asked, frowning at the tone of voice Alice was taking with her.

The vampire grunted and looked entirely frustrated. Bella was bewildered at her friend's agitated reaction.

_What is her deal?_ She wondered.

"She just-She's bad news, okay? You should already know that considering the way she practically molested you in class," Alice said bluntly and Bella grimaced at the unneeded reminder.

Well now Alice was being plain snappish with her. This was uncalled for, and Bella was only even more confused and starting to get kind of annoyed herself.

"What is your deal, Alice? Why are you so up in arms every time I mention her? And why won't you give me any straight answers?" she said, her ire bleeding slightly into her tone. Alice caught it easily and ran her hand through her hair again.

"Look…Bella…"

The vampire seemed to be debating with herself and she watched Bella with uncertain eyes. Bella waited, watching her back just as closely but with a wary confusion.

"I just can't, okay?" Alice eventually got out and Bella immediately shook her head, further perplexed by the vague answer.

"What do you mean you _can't_?" she prodded.

"I mean I literally _can't_," Alice reiterated. "Listen, Victoria is a new vampire in town. She's a lesbian. She's bad news. That's really all I can say. _Why_ she's here is something I really, literally, cannot tell you. But I don't like her talking to you like that, let alone touching you, and I want you to stay away from her."

Bella threw up her hands in exasperation. So much for not beating around the bush. Bella might as well have been pulling teeth trying to get anything out of the vampire.

"What the hell does that mean, Alice? Why are you keeping stuff from me? How do you expect me to get why you hate her so much if you won't even tell me anything? _Why_ can't you tell me?" she babbled, ignoring the frustration on the vampire's face at her reaction.

"_Because_," Alice said pointedly. "I-Carlisle asked me not to. And we all promised Victoria we wouldn't tell anyone why she's here. That doesn't mean I have to like her, and I don't."

The way Alice spoke to her then was in a way she never had before and it immediately sent her warning flags up, and honestly, actually pissed her off.

_She's lying to me_, Bella thought, suddenly as hurt as Alice had been earlier, only she was now angry, too.

"Why are you lying to me?" she demanded suddenly. Alice's expression immediately twisted into one of offense, but Bella didn't relent, her stomach knotting as she realized they were actually sort of fighting.

Fighting.

With Alice.

What had the world come to?

"You told me not to lie to you before, so why are you doing it to me now? We _never_ lie to each other," Bella said, her voice somewhere between a plea and a reprimand.

"I'm not _lying_ to you," Alice snapped, her eyes flashing in a way that made Bella's stomach knot for an entirely different reason. "I'm _serious_. I really can't tell you. Since when have I ever lied to you? I'm telling you straight up that I'm keeping things from you, but not by choice."

Bella drew back then, the wounded expression on her face blatant. She hated the sensation crawling through her right then. She was arguing with Alice, whom she had never genuinely argued with before, and it felt like _crap_.

Stupid Victoria, why did she have to go and pull that stunt of hers? And why did Bella have to let her?

"Bella, _listen_ to me," Alice switched from defensive to beseeching at that look, immediately relenting at Bella's expression. She took a step forward so they stood close and the aroma of white chocolate, mint, and berries made Bella subconsciously inhale deeply.

She ducked her head and looked at Bella through her lashes and said softly but sincerely, "I am _not lying_ to you. Look me in the eyes. You _know_ me. You know _us_. I wouldn't keep anything from you if I didn't have to but I _do_. I made some promises and I can't go back on them. I told Carlisle and I told that-that-that redheaded _harlot_ that I wouldn't. You know I would tell you if I could but I _can't_. I'm giving you everything I can, so you just have to _trust_ me."

Bella stared straight into Alice's eyes and was struck by the way they bore into her, mercilessly trapping her in the pixie's gaze.

Alice was being truthful. Bella could read it as easily as if her eyes were an open book. She could tell by the sincerity in the girl's voice, and simply _knowing_ Alice, she knew the girl was telling the truth. She really could not tell Bella why that woman Victoria was here. She had given all she could, and was begging Bella to believe her.

And so she did, the fight going out of her for the second time as she slumped, hugging her middle and nodding. She could not resist Alice's honesty.

"Okay…I'm sorry I got so upset, I just…I just don't want us to be the kind of friends that keep stuff from each other, but I get it. If you can't tell me, you can't tell me," she acquiesced.

"It's okay. I don't either, Bella. I'm sorry I can't tell you. I will eventually but for right now…" Alice lightly put a hand on her arm and Bella nodded as the wrecking ball in her mind slammed her again, determined to stop any more than platonic thoughts.

_I guess I really am gay_, she thought forlornly. _Which means I sure as hell cannot be thinking about my best friend like that. Then I'm _really_ asking for it. _

"I get it," she said and Alice smiled her gorgeous smile. "I understand."

She didn't, not really. She still had no clue why Victoria was here or messing with her, and she didn't really understand why Alice had to promise not to tell anyone, but the vampire was not budging, and so Bella knew she must have a good reason.

"Okay. Good," Alice grinned and her hand dropped from Bella's arm. Her grin didn't last long though, before it transformed into a concerned look that sent the brunette's insides writhing again.

She knew what that look meant. She had just hoped that their mild arguing/misunderstanding or whatever that little spat had been would make Alice forget what had happened. In hindsight, it was a stupid hope, but it had been a hope nonetheless.

"You never answered me though, Bells. Are you okay? You got out of there pretty fast. Really, what did she say to you? Was she threatening you? I swear if she was I-"

The protective expression on Alice's face was heartwarming and adorable, but Bella really needed this to drop. Her morning had been stressful enough, and she wanted to end this conversation as soon as possible.

It's not that she didn't love talking to Alice; she really did. It was one of her favorite pastimes, but she did not think she could handle any more of this talk about what had happened in Biology.

"No, Alice, no, it was nothing like that. I told you, she was just-you know…Flirting. Really shamelessly," she admitted, shuffling her feet awkwardly when Alice frowned.

The frown was not as disconcerting as the suddenly curious look she received.

"Did you like it?" Alice inquired cautiously, eyes roaming Bella's face for her reaction.

That reaction happened to be tried and tested true as she blushed brightly, wondering how many times a day she could do so before she passed out from the head rush. She spluttered something incoherent and Alice's eyebrows rose in a manner that made her uncomfortable.

So much for ending the conversation.

"I-I don't know-I mean kinda-no, I mean yes-" Bella snapped her mouth shut when Alice hummed, the corners of her lips quirking slightly.

"So that was a…Yes?" she clarified, sounding amused.

Bella could only manage a shrug, knowing if she tried to lie that Alice would see right through her but unable to tell the truth, to which Alice nodded pensively, her eyes twinkling at Bella in a knowing way.

"So…I guess you're still stuck on the whole gay thing, then."

No, not really. She was pretty sure she was gayer than Freddie Mercury and twice as bad at hiding it at this point, but saying it out loud was an entirely different story. She was pretty sure Alice got that though, because Alice knew her better than she knew herself sometimes and was gazing at her with that twinkle in her pretty eyes.

"Look…Bella, I'll say it again. I don't care what you are, you know I'm here for you when you figure it out or you're ready to talk about it. And if you liked it, that's fine and it's completely understandable. But-" Alice took a deep breath as Bella mentally dug a deep hole and jumped into it, wanting to hide desperately from this conversation. "But if you're going to contemplate girls…Or mess around, or experiment with anyone to help figure it out-Just please, don't do it with her."

The hole in her head had been about four feet deep, enough for her to curl up in it and cower, but at that, it deepened to the classic six feet under.

Fuck, why did Alice read her so well sometimes and then remain completely oblivious when Bella was obviously mortified?

"What?" she gawked but said nothing else because she knew she would only splutter like an idiot some more.

"Anyone else, Bella. I know it's not really my business, but I'm begging you, please, to stay away from her. Victoria is _not_ good company. I know I can't tell you why and I know she must be hard to resist, especially when you're so new to this stuff but _please_, anyone but her. Anyone but Victoria."

Bella opened her mouth to respond, shut it, opened it again, and then shook her head, a smooth shade of vermillion now due to Alice's words. When she finally found her voice, at least she did not stutter.

"No. _No_, Alice I wasn't even thinking about that. I wouldn't…_Experiment_ with her. I only _just_ figured out that I'm probably at least bisexual because of her touching but…That was never even a possibility. I wouldn't…_Do_ that. Not with her, she's a total stranger pretty much. And I don't get why she's bad news, but I trust you. But seriously, even if I did experiment, who else would I do it with anyway? Experimenting is _not_ my intention right now, and it's not like I could even if I wanted to. This is Forks, where the gay population is a solid you, her…And maybe me."

She finished her rant with the profound desire to plunge her hot face into a bucket of ice water.

Alice looked a bit skeptical, but slowly she nodded, accepting Bella at her word.

That insufferable bell rang then, making Bella jump and Alice smile that nose crinkling smile at her.

"Shit, did we just skip second period?" Bella whined as Alice chuckled.

"Yep," she said, popping the 'p' and looking entirely unruffled by the thought. "Miss Swan, I do believe that warrants a detention, and I don't think you've ever even had one of those."

Bella glared playfully at her snickering friend, but Alice only slung an arm around her waist and lead her to the door, bumping their hips together in a way that inappropriately made the brunette's heart skip a beat.

She gave up on the wrecking ball thing. It obviously wasn't working. She switched to mentally electrocuting herself, but that only reminded her off the tingles Alice provoked in her when they touched, and so she gave it up entirely, preferring to simply not care for the time being and just enjoy Alice's company.

"You'll get one too, you know," she pointed out as Alice unlocked and opened the door to reveal a steady stream of students pouring into the hall like ants from the classrooms.

"Oh please, I've had so many detentions in my life that I've lost count," Alice shrugged.

"Really? Good girl Alice is in fact a _bad_ girl? Someone alert the papers, that's a juicy story," Bella joked and Alice laughed.

"Good girl? Hardly. Honey, I don't know if you know this, but I'm kind of a badass," Alice said and giggled when Bella snorted.

"And going to school for years upon years with Emmett is bound to get you into trouble on a regular basis," she added and beamed when Bella laughed aloud.

And yet Bella's laugh trailed off when she realized how many people were watching her and Alice walk down the hall together, glued to each other's sides, and all she could think about were Cassie and Lauren's earlier words…

She also did not miss the way that Alice noticed her sudden uncomfortable tension and the way the vampire subtly slid apart from her a moment later.

"Hey, I'll see you in gym, okay? I can't be late for third period since you already made me skip second," she said, giving Bella a tiny wave with her hand and moving in the opposite direction.

Bella waved back as Alice turned away, but she called one more thing over her shoulder that caused Bella to blush for the hundredth time.

"Oh, and remember, stay away from Victoria!"

* * *

Unfortunately, it didn't matter if Bella stayed away from Victoria, because Victoria was certainly _not_ staying away from her.

The human girl ran into her again the next day in gym. She had found out yesterday that she and Alice seemed to share quite a few classes with the mischievous redhead, including P.E, a fact that frightened Bella and irritated Alice. However, apart from the first class she had shared with Victoria, the woman had not committed any other disconcerting acts toward her. In fact, except for the occasional wink or smirk when Bella looked at her, she didn't even talk to her. (Bella didn't sit by her in Biology anymore. Andrew got his seat jacked the next day which brightened Alice from her quiet, unfathomable loathing of the redhead in their shared class. He didn't seem to mind, considering he now got to sit next to the lascivious Victoria. He was a teenage boy after all.)

That ignoring her deal didn't last long.

Today, their sadistic coaches had them running laps because, according to them, they could not stop running their mouths during warm ups. That was all well and good for them to say as they literally ate a box of donuts from the sidelines, but whatever.

Sadly, Bella was terribly out of shape and gasping for air on her fourth lap while Angela and Alice ran circles around them, already on their sixth. They had to run _eight_.

God, she was going to die before she even caught up to them. She may not _look_ fat but on the inside she swore she must be obese. Damn American food and sedentary lifestyle.

Victoria was the same, except she was already on her seventh lap and close to finishing, hiding very little pretext of her vampiric ability. At least Alice had the sense to keep pace with the faster students like Angela.

Every time she had passed Bella, the brunette had squirmed, but the redhead only smiled and moved past them, not further antagonizing the girl. None of that stopped Alice from giving her a reassuring grin whenever she (frequently) lapped her, or from watching the redhead like a hawk. Normally her vampire friend would slow down and walk with her, but Alice was naturally competitive and wasn't used to not being the best in gym.

Thankfully, though, she wasn't the only one fighting for air, as Jessica dragged her feet next to her, both of them sounding asthmatic. For Alice it was to be expected, but for Angela to dart by them while not even breaking a sweat just felt spiteful.

"You guys are really out of shape," the Asian girl laughed as she slowed to a jog next to them, having come around to lap them again. She was hardly panting, her breathing even.

"Fuck…You…" Jessica wheezed, cradling her side. Bella shared the sentiment with a middle finger, concentrating too hard on catching her breath to properly respond. They slowed to a dragging walk and Angela rolled her eyes at them, looking entirely superior.

"You're both pitiful," she told them and darted out of reach when Jessica took a half assed swipe at her, sniggering the whole time.

"Fuck you," Bella chuckled good naturedly and snatched the girl's water bottle from her, giving her the stink eye. "Not everyone can be that athletic," she said as she took a hearty swig, her heart racing.

"Not everyone can be that out of shape," Angela retorted as Jessica massaged the stitch in her side and glared.

"Shut up. You play soccer, you're used to this. I haven't been able to cheerlead since football season is over and our team sucks anyway, and Bella is…" Jessica glanced at her friend and the brunette rolled her eyes, tossing Angela back her water bottle.

"I'm me," she finished and they all shared a grin. "I'm a bookworm, not a soccer jock. Get out my face, Angie," she said in a lame attempt at a gangster voice that made the other two snicker.

"Wow, that thug voice stinks. You need to work on that…And speaking of stinking," Angela frowned as she wrinkled her nose, an expression that her friends quickly shared as they got a whiff of each other.

"Dude, we reek," Jessica complained. "Why the hell are they making us run out here anyway? Look at them, stuffing their fat faces with doughnuts. Hypocrites."

Bella scowled as she remembered she had left her deodorant in her truck, along with her towel for showering.

"Hell, guys, I forgot my stuff in my car," she pouted, feeling the sweat run down her neck.

Ick.

"You can borrow my deodorant," Angela offered and then huffed when Jessica and Bella both made a face at her.

"Gross," Jessica said.

"Yeah, thanks for the offer, but no thanks. I'll just ask Coach Basselor if I can run to my car. Sharing after gym products is kinda nasty," she declined and Angela shrugged.

"Suit yourself. Basselor likes you anyway. I think she might be one of those lesbian pedophile coaches or something. Look at her haircut…Ooh, Bella, what if she's crushing on you?" Angela crowed, turning around to fast walk backwards as her friends continued to drag their feet, refusing to speed up again.

"Ew," Jessica made another face, looking disgusted. "That's just nasty, Angela. Shut up. She's like fifty, and she's a _girl_."

Their words made Bella's blood run colder and she opted to stay silent, suddenly entirely uncomfortable.

"What part of lesbian pedophile did you miss?" Angela laughed as she moved further and further ahead of them, easily backwards jogging. "Oh, Bella, you might want to hurry by the way. Class is almost over. No way will she let you into the parking lot after. You won't have time to shower and the teachers always bitch out the coaches if we smell."

"Yeah, I got you. I'll catch up with you guys later," Bella slowed and turned around, eager to get away from them after that abrupt turn the conversation had taken.

So…So Angela and Jessica thought lesbians were gross.

…Great.

That was just freaking great. Now she had even more weight on her shoulders, wondering if she was well and truly gay and now knowing that both of some of her closest friends thought it was disgusting. She could still hear Angela trying to freak out an already grossed out Jessica even further, though their voices were fading as she walked back towards the coaches at the entrance to the track, her shoulders hunched.

She supposed that should have been expected considering how small a town Forks was and how prevalently religious it was in certain areas, but still…

That didn't take the sting out of it.

She jogged back towards the coaches and as Alice was rounding the start of the track next to them, she saw her approaching and cocked her head as they met up.

"You know you're going the wrong way, right?" Alice raised an eyebrow, smirking when Bella rolled her eyes.

"Duh. I forgot my deodorant and stuff in my truck. I'm gonna ask if I can go get it," Bella replied and Alice nodded sagely.

"Yeah, you should probably go do that. Boy, for someone who was running at half a mile an hour, you sure worked up a sweat. You _smell_," Alice grinned, flapping her hand playfully under her nose.

Easy for her to say. She was a freaking vampire, and vampires didn't sweat. She looked perfectly perfect in her gym clothes. It was beyond cloudy today with the smell of ozone in the air, threatening to storm, so Alice had not had to us an excuse to get out of coming to gym. Sunlight killing vampires may have been a myth, but their pale skin burned so quickly that their medical excuses were actually valid.

"Hardy harr harr, very funny. You know you love the way I smell, all the Cullens do," Bella grumbled at her.

"That we do, Bells. That's part of why I haven't been running next to you. You smell even better right now than usual, as gross as that sounds. That, and you're a total slowpoke," Alice said, looking unashamed when Bella's eyebrows rose.

"I knew you were into some weird stuff. Hey, I gotta hurry though. They won't let me go for sure if class ends first," Bella replied and Alice nodded before moving past her to start jogging again.

"Alright, I'll see you later then! Good luck!" she called, darting away.

Bella smiled to herself and walked over to the coaches, quickly trading her customary grin that Alice always left her with for her best pleading look as Coach Basselor scarfed another donut and conversed with Coach Donnehue around her mouthful of sweet baked goods.

"Hi, um, can I go get my deodorant out of my car real quick? It'll only take a minute and I'll stink later if I don't," Bella asked, trying not to visibly wince at the smear of chocolate on her Coach's mouth.

Jessica was right. Fucking hypocrites.

"Huh, kid? Why didn't you bring it with you?" Donnehue griped, wiping crumbs off his mouth.

"I forgot."

The two coaches looked at each other and frowned as if trying to figure out whether or not she was telling the truth, before Basselor shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah, fine, hurry up Swan, class is almost over. We always catch flak when you teenagers walk around smelling like garbage, so go. But no funny business. If I catch you lingering in that parking lot, it'll be detention tomorrow," Coach Basselor said, giving her what she supposed passed as a threatening look.

The joke was on her, she already had a detention set up for tomorrow (Friday) for skipping second period yesterday with Alice, but she nodded her head like a good girl anyway and went around them, heading through the fence and straight into the parking lot.

The school's track was connected to the back parking lot, which was the student parking lot, so thankfully even though she was parked towards the far side, it wasn't a long walk.

However, she halted to a full stop when she saw who was standing right next to her truck.

Victoria.

The redhead was leaned against an inconspicuous tan car that looked way too plain against the vampire and her pale skin, especially with her flaming red hair. Victoria appeared to have already not only finished her laps, but showered, and had traded in her t-shirt and shorts for a racy ensemble of a low cut, shimmery emerald green blouse that showed off her large chest coupled with another incredibly tight black skirt, though this one didn't look to be made of leather, that barely covered the swell of her ass. Apparently she had been running even faster than Bella thought if she was already showered and changed.

_What the hell is she doing there? _Bella thought frantically, frozen. _We're supposed to go to the locker room when we're done and wait in the gym until the bell rings. Why is she out here?_

The vampire did not seem to notice her and was looking down at a phone in her hands, texting. Surely though, if the breeze picked up, she would catch Bella's prominent scent on the wind, and so the brunette had barely any time to make a decision before she was noticed.

_What do I do? If I go over there, she'll probably say something to me. God, what if she tries something? I couldn't get past her pheromones last time, and now we're all alone out here, I won't be able to stop her…But I need my stuff. I'll smell like ass all day if I don't get it…_

Bella remained indecisive, weighing her options. On the one hand, there was only so much a shower could do for teenage hormones producing less than pleasant body odor throughout the rest of the day, and no way did she want to walk around stinking. On the other, she definitely did not want another altercation with Victoria.

However, a new idea occurred to her as she stood there, one that seemed to actually make a good deal of sense.

_But then again, this would be the perfect opportunity to tell her I'm not interested…She hasn't really tried anything since that one time in Biology, but she keeps looking at me like she's into me and Alice swears she's bad news so…I could always take this chance to tell her to back off?_

Victoria lifted her head and turned it as Bella came to a decision. Her red-gold eyes found Bella as if she had known all along that she was there and she smiled that devious smile.

It took all of Bella's willpower to walk towards her instead of bolting, but she steeled herself to do what she figured needed to be done. She did not want to avoid the redhead like she was afraid of her anyway. She may be a vampire, but she just needed to be rejected, and then she would back off, that was all.

"Well hello there, kitten. What brings you out here?" Victoria greeted sultrily, raking her eyes over Bella when she approached.

Shameless harlot. She did not even try to hide it as she checked the human girl out.

Bella deigned not to look at her and instead strode past her to her truck, catching the scent of Victoria's own personal brand of vampire incense as she did. She held her breath determinedly instead of breathing in the scent of sex personified, knowing it would only make things worse.

"I forgot my stuff for after gym," she replied in an even tone, hating the way she had to turn her back on Victoria to open the passenger side of her truck. "Why are you out here?" she asked in an attempt to be civil, pretending that nothing had ever really happened between them, which is what Victoria seemed to be doing.

Fine by her.

"Oh, just passing time until next period. That gym smells like old underwear and socks. It's awful, so I came out here for some fresh air. _You_ on the other hand, smell much nicer…" Victoria purred as Bella glanced warily over her shoulder at her, jerking on the handle of her truck with a little too much force.

Nothing happened.

Blinking, Bella quickly turned back to her truck and gave it another yank.

Nothing.

It was locked.

Bella swore softly under her breath as she remembered she left her keys in her jeans, which were currently in the locker room.

"Forgetful today, aren't you Isabella?" Victoria chuckled behind her and she turned back around, her stomach twisting at the honey sweet tone. Pheromones tickled the outer edges of her senses as she mentally freaked.

_Hell, I'm such an idiot! Okay, abort, Swan, abort! Get out of here!_

All her plans to tell Victoria she was not interested were dying the moment she locked eyes with the redhead. All she could think of was how bright her hair was, and how soft and red her lips looked, and the way her canines flashed when she smirked.

Was this how boys felt? Maybe this was why guys were so distrustful of women. She felt painfully vulnerable, knowing how strong of an affect Victoria could pull on her if she really tried.

Who knew being gay would be such a disadvantage in life?

"Need some help?" Victoria lifted one eyebrow at her, her eyes glittering in a way that warned Bella away even as they pulled her in.

She resisted the urge to shake her head to rid herself of the flurries permeating her thoughts, courtesy of the vampire pumping out pheromones before her. No way was she not doing this on purpose…

"No, it's fine. I'll just suck it up. Nice talking to you," Bella squeaked, the pitch of her voice higher than usual.

"Nonsense. We can't have you walking around smelling all day," Victoria insisted, contradicting her earlier words that Bella smelled good to her, which the brunette could not fathom considering she was sweaty and hot and gross, which should have only been amplified to a vampire's sensitive nose.

"I'm pretty sure I have a coat hanger in my car anyway. Your locks are old, you should be able to hook it and pop it open," Victoria said. She lazily reached over to the back door of the car she leaned against and pulled it open, indicating to Bella to go for it.

Ah, so that was why Victoria was leaned against the car next to hers. She wondered if it was coincidence that they were parked next to each other or if Victoria had done it on purpose. She hoped the latter was only paranoia. The vampire was acting cordial enough, and though she was mildly flirty, it was certainly a far cry from her first impressions.

She peered inside, the words _lion's den_ echoing in her mind despite that.

"No, really, I…"

"Seriously, it's no big deal. It'll only take a second anyway," Victoria said, and looked back down at her phone when it buzzed. "Go on," she muttered and began tapping away, for the first time finding something more interesting than making Bella uncomfortable with her sultry looks and flirty tone.

Bella contemplated simply walking away, but knew how weird she would look if she did. Victoria wasn't even being that bad technically, compared to how she had acted in previous situations, and she seemed more interested in whoever she was texting than Bella. Maybe she really was just being nice. Maybe it was a subtle apology for how she had acted before…

So warily, she leaned into the backseat of the car and searched for the coat hanger mentioned. When she did not immediately see it, she called to Victoria, "Hey, I don't see it. Is it in the back of the car or in the backseat?"

"Backseat was the last time I saw it," Victoria called back, sounding distracted with her phone. "Check the floorboards, it might have rolled under the seats."

Bella continued to look, crawling in further so that she was on her knees on the backseat, starting to relax at the bored tone Victoria had taken. So the redhead wasn't actually that big of a deal, and was even helping her out.

Cool. She had panicked for nothing.

If only she could find the damn coat hanger.

She ran her hands on the spotless floorboards, still unable to find it. She was now fully inside the car and leaned down, trying to see into the gloom under the seats.

And that was when Victoria crawled in behind her.

"Having trouble?" the redhead murmured in her ear and Bella spun with a yelp. She found her face a centimeter from Victoria's and she scrambled back, pheromones and that godly aroma bombing her senses from the sudden closeness, but the top of her head knocked into the opposite door and she collapsed on her back in the seat, whimpering. Victoria smiled a deadly smile and crept over Bella on all fours, her body hovering a mere inch over the brunette's as fear twisted her insides, along with an undeniably aroused tug at her lower belly.

_Shit, shit, shit!_ Her brain screamed as she pressed one hand against the front seat and sank down as far she could go, practically hyperventilating as the redhead slid over her. Victoria hooked one foot in the door handle of her car and with one effortless movement, pulled it shut; effectively trapping them both inside with thud of the door slamming shut sounding like a death sentence.

Bella had wandered into the lion's den, and the lion had caught her.

* * *

_**You guys apparently not only don't mind longer chapters, but like them. Again, I normally would have cut it off after the Bellice convo and the stuff with Cassie and Lauren, but I figured you guys would like a little more Victoria better ;) I'm trying to mix up actual events with plot and character development to keep it interesting, so I hope you guys enjoyed. Much love for the love, too, by the way :)**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**PLEASE NOTE: This story's rating has officially been changed from T to M. **_

* * *

Bella understood then how a rabbit caught in a snare must feel.

The utter panic that exploded to life in her chest as Victoria drifted over her and placed one hand on the door above her head had her panting, her overworked heart bursting to life again. She opened her mouth, having no idea what she could possibly say as her throat closed, but Victoria beat her to it.

"Ah ah ah, kitten. _Relax_," she breathed and pheromones _blasted_ her senseless.

Bella made a choked noise as they flooded the tiny space of the car and settled over her like a thick, lustful blanket, smothering her. "Jesus _Christ_," she sobbed, shuddering wildly as they lapped over her skin, dipped into her pores and lit up her nervous system. "What-_Don't_-"

Bella had never known vampires could do this. She had never been forewarned about this particular ability, and so her shock only deepened the strength of the effect Victoria pulled on her. It was worse than what she had done in Biology, and it was not a slow assault, but a fully fledged, no holds barred _attack_ on her body.

Victoria smiled her deadly smile, baring her shiny teeth. Her fangs were fully revealed as she peered down at Bella through her molten eyes, her sweet breath puffing over the human's face.

"Easy, honey. Shh, I'm not going to hurt you…" Victoria murmured as Bella fell unusually still, fear stopping her cold. The redhead delicately lifted the hand not on the door behind her head and cupped her right cheek, the cool skin making Bella blanch and whimper.

_Stupid idiot, you stupid fucking idiot, look what you did!_ Bella mentally mourned, cowering. _Now you've gone and done it! Oh god, I'm so screwed! I'm so, so screwed-oh God, she smells even better than sex!_

"Mm, you smell _divine_, kitten. God, I can barely stand it. I don't know how Alice can be so close to you all the time. You always smell fantastic, but oh, _darling_…" Victoria inhaled deeply, relish on her face that twisted Bella's belly with desire and terror. "You smell even better all worked up. Running around like that, getting your fucking hot, sweet blood pumping, your heart racing…Oh, and if I'm right, running isn't the only thing that gets you worked up…" Victoria sneered when Bella blushed, struggling to swallow as the vampire perched over her, practically straddling her.

She could feel her want pulsating most notably between her thighs, stoked by the woman atop her and all the pheromones she was pumping out, filling the car with her presence, suffocating Bella in it. Mortified by this realization, she sank further back into the seat, trembling.

_You idiot, you stupid idiot…_She thought. She felt horribly akin to a small child that had been lured into a stranger's van by promises of candy. God, she'd been lured in by something even _less_ tempting than candy, by a freaking coat hanger.

How had she ever thought this was a good idea? Had she really been so naive as to think Victoria was actually just being nice?

Yes. Yes she had. And now she was paying for it.

"Oh, kitten, don't look so scared…I'm so sorry, I told myself I'd behave around you after being so brazen before, told myself I'd back off so as not to frighten you any further but…I just couldn't _help_ myself. You're so _vulnerable_, Bella, and you don't even realize it…Living with vampires has made you careless. I think you've forgotten how _primal_ we can be…And I'm not used to holding back, so when you wiggled that cute little ass of yours, bent over in my car, I just couldn't resist. Besides, you smell so. Damn. _Good_," Victoria groaned, the hand caressing her burning cheek sliding down as she spoke, seduced really.

Bella could only stare up at her, panting heavily. The pheromones drowned her brain, made her weak and pliant, confused, _wanton_.

_Oh god_, was all she could think as that smooth hand slipped down her neck and rubbed almost lovingly at her throat before it trailed down to her collarbone, tickling the skin there tantalizingly. Everywhere Victoria touched left a path of heat in her wake.

Bella wanted to scream, shove her away, call for help. She wanted to slap the vampire, call her names and scramble out of the car, run for her life, but she couldn't. She physically could _not_ move as Victoria lowered her hips to settle in properly on her lap, the weight of her making Bella mew plaintively against her will. Pheromones glued her to the seat and kept her still.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid_, she chanted in her head, the only word available to her frying brain. The air in the car seemed to radiate Victoria, closing in on her.

"Mm, I can hear your pulse pounding. Do you like this, Bella? I know you _do_…You're turned on, aren't you, sweetie?" Victoria taunted, smirking when Bella's lips parted, her heart ricocheting ruthlessly inside her oxygen deprived chest.

She tried to open her mouth and scream _Get away from me!_ But nothing came out but a helpless wheeze that made Victoria giggle.

"Oh, you want more, is that it?" Victoria grinned evilly, her eyes glinting.

_No!_ Bella thought furiously but it was for nothing because a moment later Victoria sat up on her lap and slid both her hands under Bella's t shirt.

The air turned to slurry, a thick, liquefied thing that she couldn't seem to get enough of as cold hands pressed down on her sensitive stomach and _slid_ over her hot skin. Her muscles clenched, all of them, and she cried out fully, her abs crunching as she curved into the movement.

"_Fuck_," she keened brokenly, clawing the front and back seat with each respective hand, her thighs squeezing as a jolt of pleasure shot straight from her abdominal core to her _other_ core, heat flashing as wetness became a slick reality between them.

Victoria wasn't even doing anything that was particularly erotic or pleasure inducing, and yet it still had such a powerful effect on Bella, who squirmed, her body shaking as the redhead began to knead the tightness of her flat stomach, the softness of her sweaty skin. Icy hot sensation emitted from Victoria's hands, racing across the tender plane of her belly.

"You like that, kitten? Hmm?" Victoria breathed above her, and then with a teasing wink, she began to rock her hips slowly, back and forth, back and forth, _riding_ her.

Bella's head hit the door behind her with a heavy _thunk_. She arched her back and strained, the rocking motion making her head spin, bearing her throat unintentionally to the vampire before her, who let loose a gut wrenching snarl at the sight.

"Fuck, don't tempt me," Victoria hissed, grinding down on her lap in a way that was undoubtedly obscene, shameless, as was her nature. One hand came back up to Bella's throat in a way that caused fear to pierce the sexual trance the redhead had put her in. She flinched, her chest heaved, but Victoria only made a quiet purring noise and worked her hips faster, still massaging her belly with fervent, teasing movements of her other icy hand.

"God, you're so _warm_," Victoria moaned into the simmering heat of the car, her hips speeding up. She almost passed out when she felt the woman press down on her lap, clearly enjoying herself.

Bella was ashamed and terrified and beyond aroused as she felt the unbridled need pooled at the apex of her thighs in a way that she had never felt before.

_I'm so fucked_, was the only thought that twisted out of her swimming skull. The desperation to make Victoria _stop_, get _off_ of her was giving way to the desire she was invoking in Bella's body, seducing her out of her _freaking_ mind.

"You're so fucking weak and helpless right now, kitten, and you _love_ it, don't you?" Victoria growled as she lowered her face close to Bella's, her mouth an inch away from the brunette's. Her breath smelled like mint and cinnamon and Bella only sobbed in response, her knuckles white against her skin as she clutched each seat tighter. "I told you I'd make you _purr_, darling," she murmured in a voice that screamed of raw hunger and power.

Bella's eyes widened as Victoria's flashed black.

And then Victoria kissed her.

Bella squeaked into the kiss, her body arching and twisting, torn between trying to get away and getting closer. Those full lips bruised hers in a kiss that was almost painful even as it made her breath blow out of her. Almost immediately Victoria's tongue plunged into her mouth, cool and unbelievably strong as she frenched her and continued to ride her lap mercilessly, building the ache in her gut until Bella wanted to die from the need.

Victoria kissed like she acted; shamelessly, dominantly, ruthlessly. Bella was powerless to resist her, as she had been from the moment the redhead had first blasted her with pheromones.

She was just succumbing to the fact that she was literally doomed, with no one to come and save her, when Alice came and proved her wrong.

"Mmf-" Bella gasped as Victoria was suddenly _ripped_ off of her.

Literally.

Like one second she was there, and then she was just gone.

Bella sucked in air like a jet engine, vacuuming it into her starving lungs as she shot straight up, her heart going harder than it ever had before.

She barely got a second to come back to reality when there came a raucous _bang_ outside the car on the side through which she had been shoved into her cage.

Sensing freedom as she looked out of the now wide open car door –which she had not even heard open in her daze- she scrambled for her escape, desperate to be out of the pheromone saturated car, no matter what might be outside. When her head broke free, she saw none other than her best friend Alice Cullen pinning the predatory redhead to the side of her truck by the front of her blouse.

_Alice!_ She rejoiced.

Oh Alice, her wonderful, sweet Alice. Thank God. Thank _God_.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" Alice snarled at Victoria as Bella stumbled out of the car, gulping in a fresh lungful of less tainted air and quivering fearfully as she staggered a few more feet away from them. Her knees did not seem to want to support her eight.

Victoria's hands were held out wide to the sides in a faux sign of innocence. She was smirking despite the furious vampire growling in her face, her eyebrows high over her now oil colored eyes.

"Playing with the human," she said, sounding amused as Alice's hands balled her shirt up further. "Which you so rudely interrupted, by the way. We were just getting to the good part. You didn't even give me a chance to see if she was a good kisser. She was still being passive when you so impolitely pulled me out of the car by my _very_ expensive shirttail…"

At her unbothered response, Alice seemed to become even angrier. Lately, she was seeing what Alice was like when she wasn't in her perpetual state of effervescence. She had seen her hungry, aroused, and even experienced what it must be like to be her prey when the girl was hunting, but Bella had never seen her friend so riled up with that much _fury_, not even when Cassie and Lauren had called her a dyke. This was something else, the rage radiating off of her in palpable waves.

She was only further stunned when Alice suddenly jerked Victoria up off of her truck and then slammed her back into it, the glass of her window cracking ominously.

_Alice_, she wondered, throbbing between her legs and panting for fresh air. She had to back away another step when more pheromones came to life due to the agitated state of the vampires before her.

"This was _not_ part of the deal!" Alice yelled, her high voice hard and unrelenting in a way that was entirely opposite to her sweet personality. "I told you she was _off limits_!"

Victoria seemed to be marginally less apathetic after the second time being shoved up against Bella's truck, her eyes narrowing slightly. Fear for her friend warred with the ache in her belly that the redhead had left her with, but there was nothing Bella could really do to help.

_This is my fault_, she thought guiltily, watching them with wide, helpless eyes, hating the want slicking her sex as Alice went toe to toe with another vampire to protect her. _I'm such an idiot…_

"In case you haven't realized it yet, little girl, I don't take orders from you," Victoria said overly sweetly, her tone souring though her smirk stayed in place. Alice's jaw locked at the condescending tone, her shoulder blades tightening.

"I don't care that you're here on their orders," Alice rumbled back, pressing Victoria harder into the car so that the metal groaned in protest. "You don't. Fucking. _Touch her_."

"Careful, Alice. I can see why you're so jealous, but you'd do well to hold your tongue or I'll be _touching_ her in a much less pleasant way," Victoria warned, still sneering infuriatingly. The undisguised threat made Alice snarl a pure, vampire snarl, and she jerked Victoria forward again before shoving her hard back into the truck for the third time, the glass crackling under the blow.

The sound of it made Bella jolt; it was a sound she had not heard since biting her friend and she remembered just how powerful a noise the tiny girl could let loose when she turned on the animal that lurked in every vampire.

A new respect formed for Alice, her tiny, gentle vampire, who always seemed so harmless and to Bella, -shamefully, she admitted- the physically weakest of the Cullens. She was proving herself to be anything but lately which was unbelievably lucky for Bella. She should have known better than to underestimate a girl like Alice.

Her blood ran cold, however, when Victoria's sneer melted away, being replaced with a daunting, smooth mask. Only her eyes gave any indication of the anger that Alice had finally provoked in her and Bella hissed in a breath as the redhead slowly lifted her hands and grabbed Alice's wrists in them, squeezing tightly.

"You do that again and you might genuinely start to piss me off, little girl," she said, her voice low but clear, the fake sweet tone completely gone now, replaced by a quiet but distinctly threatening one. It raised the hairs on the back of her neck like static electricity. "I suggest you take your hands off of me before you _really_ make me angry."

Alice scowled furiously as Victoria gripped her wrists and they stared each other down, her friend glaring harshly into the redhead's eyes, who stared calmly back, black eyes glinting. Neither of them moved another muscle and Bella's tension was starting to make her want to puke. She was hot all over despite the cold permeating the air, still aroused despite what was going on. Two angry vampires did not help her predicament.

She wasn't sure just how strong Victoria was, but she was bigger than Alice and had switched from grade A bitch to glowering, dangerous vampire within two seconds, and Bella suddenly wanted to cry out to her friend, tell her to back off.

If Victoria hurt her, if she attacked her, she couldn't stand the thought…

Far away a clap of thunder boomed through the sky and the scent of ozone became clearer on the wind that stirred to life.

At the noise, Alice let go of Victoria's blouse and stepped away from her, her hands flexing at her sides. Relief washed the tension from Bella's shoulders, her fear of the altercation becoming a brawl that would inevitably end in Alice getting hurt keeping her safe dissipating.

"If you ever put your hands on me again, you'll regret it, sweet Alice. Don't forget why I'm here, darling," Victoria spoke first, breaking the tense silence, her voice honey slick again. She smoothed the front of her blouse out and lifted up off of Bella's (damaged) truck, her sneer carefully back in place, not showing any trace of that frightening expressionless mask she had briefly adopted.

"Don't put your hands on her and I won't put mine on you," Alice snapped back, still looking livid. "I mean it. You swore to leave her out of it, so _keep_ it that way."

"I didn't swear to keep her _out of it_," Victoria rolled her eyes arrogantly. "I swore to keep her out of the _loop_, as did you, which you are currently treading the line of not doing. Really, Alice, if you want her so much for yourself, put a claim on her. You know I wouldn't touch her if she weren't free game. You don't get to play the jealous girlfriend card if you don't actually have a right to her."

Bella went crimson at that and saw a muscle going in Alice's jaw. Claim her? What did that even mean? It sounded overtly sexual the way Victoria put it, and she could not stop her blush at the thought.

"She's not mine to put a claim on, nor is she anyone else's to claim. Seriously. Just back _off_ of her," Alice asserted, eyes flashing.

Bella had no freakin' clue what they were on about, so she stood there awkwardly, still turned on beyond belief and utterly unsure of what to do besides stew in her own traitorously aroused libido. Her heart seemed unwilling to slow down, either.

"Suit yourself, but don't come crying to me when someone else gets her first. Claim her, or someone else will," Victoria shrugged, unbothered, and with that she turned to Bella.

_Oh no_, she thought, freezing as Victoria smiled her lethal smile her way.

"It was fun playing with you, kitten, but I do believe your friend here is too possessive to share you. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll find another time to properly, er…_Pet_ you. Preferably uninterrupted," she murmured, winking as she sauntered over and brushed by the statue still human.

Bella thought Alice was going to explode with how hard she twitched and the low growl that rolled out of her throat, echoed faintly by another clap of thunder but Victoria was already floating away, taking her suffocating presence with her as she headed back to the school.

Bella looked to Alice, who stared back at her with her eyes midnight black and her body shaking with barely controlled anger.

"What," Alice ground out through clenched teeth and stalked over to her when Victoria was far away, "the _hell_ were you thinking?"

Bella blushed and shuddered, her insides still aching with what Victoria had left her over with. Alice's agitation was only making it worse as her pheromones stirred already activated nerves. However, she halted at her words.

"I-" she caught herself, swallowing as Alice looked at her with that fury. She _never_ looked at Bella like that, with anything but kindness or laughter in her eyes. She found it to be an entirely unpleasant sensation.

"What could have possibly possessed you to get in the backseat of a car with her?" Alice snapped and flung the still open back door shut so hard that the noise made her flinch. "Did you forget what we talked about already? And seriously, in the backseat of a car? That's really where you wanted your first time with a girl to be, was it?"

Bella's eyes narrowed at that as a protest bubbled up in her, affronted by Alice's accusations. Why was she going at her like this?

"No," she said, suddenly glaring at her friend. "No, what the hell, Alice? I didn't crawl in there to _sleep_ with her! In case you didn't notice, I couldn't very well get out from under her, could I?"

"Why did you get in there in the first place?" Alice demanded, her voice rising. "I _told_ you she was bad news!"

Bella was stunned silent for a long moment, her lips parted in offense at the way Alice was acting, before everything Victoria had built up inside her broke.

"She was being _normal_ for a minute there!" Bella shouted back, her emotions boiling over at how Alice was jumping down her throat, especially considering how high they were already running. That was the last thing she needed right then. Why was Alice being this way towards her? "My car was locked and she offered to help. She said there was a coat hanger in her car and told me to grab it, and then she jumped me. I didn't even get a chance to tell her to get off before she was dousing me in pheromones! And why did you guys never tell me you could do that shit on purpose? I couldn't even move!"

Alice drew back and scowled as the brunette yelled at her, but Bella did not back down.

"Normal? She's a _vampire_, Bella! You should have known better!" Alice shook her head, her voice harsh.

Bewildered and rapidly becoming genuinely pissed, Bella balled up her hands.

"Well, I didn't, alright!" she fought, though she hated every second that she did it. She hated the way Alice was looking at her with all that ire and frustration and she hated the way their voices were raised in a way that they had never raised them at each other before. "She was standing here, just texting and acting like a normal human being, and I figured I needed my stuff and I didn't want to run from her and make her think I was afraid of her, so I walked over anyway. I even thought I might tell her I wasn't interested, and she was being cool so I just gave her the benefit of the doubt! Why are you so _mad_ at me?"

Alice threw up her hands in an exasperated manner that only pissed her off further, giving her friend a look of shock at her gall, for acting like Bella were stupid.

She was, but that wasn't the point. Alice was being entirely unfair!

"_Stop_ it! Why are you jumping down my throat? You think I _wanted_ her to trap me in that car? Because I _didn't_! What is your _problem_? Why are you so pissed off at me? I mean I get that I fucked up, but I didn't _ask_ her to crawl in after me and I certainly wasn't having fun before you came and pulled her off!" she yelled furiously, gesturing wildly with one hand at the car as she glared at a glowering Alice.

Okay…_Fun_ may not have been the right word for it. Her body was certainly enjoying itself, traitorous thing that it was, but the rest of her?

Not so much.

The vampire bit her lip and shook her head at her again, posture taut. "I'm not _mad_ at you!" Alice suddenly burst out, taking one step forward which caused Bella to straighten warily. "Bella, I was _terrified_. I still _am_!" she admitted, her voice straining as the anger melted off her face to be replaced with an expression of pure anxiety that shocked Bella into silence at the switch.

"I was scared out of my mind when I walked into the locker room and realized you still weren't back-and Victoria was nowhere to be found. You were taking way too long in the parking lot, and when I walked into the gym, Victoria wasn't there either. I _panicked_. I _never_ panic, Bella," Alice told her, her eyes shining with tears she couldn't shed.

As Bella saw them glisten, she realized there were tears quivering at the corners of her eyes too, undoubtedly inspired by their shouting match.

Because fighting with Alice like that hurt. Yet the ache in her voice hurt almost as much. She listened raptly as Alice shrugged one shoulder and gave a soft scoff that the brunette gathered was aimed at the pixie herself.

"She's been watching you. You don't notice it, but I do. I knew it wasn't just a coincidence that you were gone so long and she was nowhere around. I barely got out of the gym without running too fast-and when I did, I never moved faster in my life. I could have easily been wrong and I _wanted_ to be, wanted to believe I was overreacting, but I knew it in my gut that I wasn't. And then I got here, and you were shut up in the car with her, and all I could smell was your fear over everything else. I thought she had _bitten_ you-God, Bella, for a second I thought I was too late," Alice ranted, sounding choked up.

Bella suddenly felt like an asshole for going off on her, despite how justified it might have been. She should have realized that Alice was not the kind of person to have a go at her like that with a sincere sort of anger, no matter what she had done. Alice wasn't angry with her, she was terrified for her, and it was coming out of her all wrong because of the way Victoria had provoked her.

"So-So I'm not _mad_ at you, Bella, not really. I'm mad at _her_, that stupid, evil woman, not you. I don't mean to yell-I'm sorry for screaming at you but I-I was so scared. You're my best friend and I-" Alice swallowed and shrugged, gave her a weak, watery smile. "And I don't mean to be so harsh, but I was so, so worried…"

Bella's high wired emotions dropped swiftly as she sighed deeply, her hands unclenching. Her shoulders slumped and her face softened.

Oh, Alice…

"It's fine," she said, returning Alice's smile with one that matched her forgiveness. "I get it. I deserve to be yelled at, for being so stupid. You're right you know, I should have known better. Getting into that car was an absolutely idiotic thing to do. I'm sorry too, for yelling and for scaring you like that, and for putting you in that position with her," she apologized as well, now feeling guiltier than anything else.

Really, this was all her fault, and though she didn't appreciate the accusations Alice had slung in her panic, she certainly appreciated the way her friend had come running to her rescue, stood down that bitch for her, and was now demonstrating the depth of her concern for Bella's safety. Affection and shame warmed the chill beginning to coat her buzzing body as the heat in her bones struggled against the chilly weather.

"It's okay," Alice replied softly, her posture loosening along with Bella's. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, or said those things. You know I don't really think you were going to-not with her, and that whole thing about the backseat-You know I didn't mean any of it, right? I know that doesn't excuse it, but I was just upset, and I was saying my fears of what _she_ wanted to do to you-And even if you had wanted that, I mean, it's not my business, but…"

Bella raised one eyebrow at her friend's rambling, which made Alice fall silent with a sheepish grin.

"Forget it," Bella laughed, crossing her arms and rubbing them to keep out the cold. "I know what you mean, Alice. It's fine. We were both pretty fired up…Victoria seems to have a knack for doing that. I just don't get why she's after me so hard…"

Alice's eyes did darken at the mention of the redhead, but then she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"She does. Will you listen to me next time though, honey? Bells, I love you, you know I do, but you have a tendency to want to see the best in people, but I'm telling you, the best of Victoria is the worst in most. She doesn't need a reason to go after you, other than simply because she feels like it," Alice said, taking a step forward and peering into her eyes, not quite pleading, but hinting towards it.

Startled, Bella felt goosebumps erupt all over her freezing arms.

_I love you?_ She tilted her head, a strange sensation settling over her chest. _She's never said that before…_

She supposed she should not have dwelled on it really. They were best friends; of course they loved each other, but still…Alice had never said it aloud. Hearing it made another burst of affection fill her heart and she was unbelievably grateful then that Alice was her friend. She truly was an amazing person, to stick with Bella through all of her admittedly dumb decisions, and Bella would stick with Alice through any of hers, for it.

"Yeah, definitely. I guess this is like a whole fool me twice kinda thing," she agreed, smiling widely though she wasn't sure why. "I should have known not to give her a chance in the first place, let alone a second one. She won't get me again, not after this shit she pulled. And Alice? I really am sorry for scaring you like that. Thank you…For saving my stupid ass."

Alice's brow furrowed at that, but then she chuckled lightly.

"It's not really your fault, Bells. She's a vampire. You were right before, we should have told you that vampires are capable of forcefully seducing a human into incapacitation. That's what scares me so much about it, Bella. If she gets you alone, and she wants you, she can take you. And there won't be anything you can do to stop her-And if she's really putting on the _charm_ like she did a minute ago, you might not even _want_ to stop her. That's why I warned you off in the first place," Alice said but there was no trace of a reprimand in her voice.

Bella felt one anyway, quietly kicking herself for making this mistake. She also could not deny the chill that ran up her spine at the thought of Victoria getting her alone…And having her, whether she wanted it or not. The thought made her nauseous. Hell, if the pixie had not come looking for her, she might have already done that…

Thank God for Alice. Just…Thank God.

"I promise you though, I won't let her get to you like that again. And I'll always come to your rescue, honey. No doubt about that. No way was I going to miss your damsel in distress face. There's only so much my popping up in your face and shouting 'boo' can do. I'd almost say it was worth it," Alice hummed, her voice becoming playful. She winked when Bella gave her a dropped jaw full of mock offense and lightly shoved her arm, giggling.

"You jerk!" she grinned, relishing the way Alice's eyes twinkled at her, taking the hardness out of the pitch black color they had taken on. The tension faded away at Alice's joke.

"Oh, and speaking of your face," Alice turned to contemplative, eyeing said part of her with a slight scowl that made Bella confused. "That bitch left lipstick all over your mouth. You look like you just walked out of a brothel. C'mere, Bells."

And thus all that tension came surging back with a vengeance when Alice walked right up to her, licked her thumb, and began swiping it over her mouth.

_Fu-_

Her brain cut off as if someone had pulled the plug. Her mind turned to a fuzzy buzz not unlike the one a TV experiences when it receives no signal.

Alice's digit dragged over her kiss bruised lips, drawing a line of electric tingles down the length of both. It passed back and forth like a pendulum, over her top lip, down over her bottom lip, and then back again in the same trail as Bella stood frozen, eyes locked on her concentrating friend, who stood painfully close to get at her with her other hand perched on the brunette's shoulder. The pressure on her mouth made her reel as she held her breath, the sensation of Alice's thumb tracing over every inch of it with deliberate, soft force making her knees shake.

_Jesus H. Christ!_

"Alice!" she gasped and her hand flew up, catching a cool, tiny wrist in her hand, effectively stopping the girl's movements.

Alice froze, her lips parting as their eyes locked. Bella's chest heaved and she trembled, not from the cold. All the ache and heat and want that Victoria had given her, that had been dwindling with every second, came roaring back like a dragon breathing fire into her belly.

They stayed that way for a long, silent moment, staring into each other's eyes. Alice gazed at her, her pink, heart shaped lips still parted, and her beautiful eyes lidded slightly, with her cute button nose and her lovely cheekbones, her jet black hair swaying gently against the smooth, pale curve of her jaw line in the rain scented air-

Bella's stomach plummeted at the same time that her heart soared, trapped with her face inches from Alice's, staring intimately at each other, neither speaking, moving, breathing.

Alice was so, so…

"I'm sorry," Alice started, blinking rapidly as she took a quick step back, her hand sliding delicately out of Bella's grasp. Her thumb came away smeared with a red the shade of Victoria's lipstick. "I don't know why I-"

"It's okay," Bella croaked, interrupting her, her trance shattered as she remembered how to breathe.

But it wasn't.

_It's not_, she thought. _It's really not, because…Because…_

Because for a second there, Bella had really wanted to kiss her.

Well, that settled it.

She was definitely gay, as if she had not really known that already. This just erased the last of her feeble denial, and a reluctant acknowledgement of her attraction to girls coiled inside of her, making itself a home.

It was a relief at the same time that it became a heavy, hanging weight on her shoulders.

Fine, she could accept that she was attracted to girls.

But she could _not_ accept that she might be attracted to Alice.

Nope.

Not.

Frickin'.

Happening.

The wrecking ball made another appearance in her mind's eye as Alice fiddled with her hands, one hip cocked out as she watched Bella uncertainly, both of them knowing that something had just happened but unsure of what, really. Alice really hadn't thought about what she was doing before she did it, Bella knew. Them touching was as naturally a part of their friendship as talking was in other friendships. She clearly hadn't realized it might be kind of weird-She had wiped ketchup and stuff of Bella's chin while she was eating before and neither of them had thought much of it.

But now…Now things were different…

Before either of them could say or do anything, the clouds above shuddered and began to leak the rain that had swollen them darkly, yet still refusing to downright pour.

"Ah, hell," Alice frowned and looked up as rain began to drizzle over them, pattering softly on Bella's heated cheeks.

Faintly and far away, the sound of a bell ringing reached their ears.

"Ah hell!" Bella repeated Alice's words, scowling, but Alice only let out a chiming laugh and wiped at the droplets splattering her face.

"So that would be us skipping the rest of gym," Alice smirked, the corners of her lips quirking up. "Which means-"

"Detention," Bella groaned. "Are you kidding me?" she whined and Alice only laughed again. "Can we really not catch a break?"

"No, sorry, honey. We just skipped the end of gym, and we still haven't showered, so unless you want to skip out on that, we'll probably be pretty late for fifth as well. So that's a guaranteed one detention at least for being late, and probably two when Basselor finds out you never came back from the parking lot," Alice chuckled, clearly unbothered by their new series of detentions they would be receiving.

"No, I'm not skipping the damn shower, or all of this was for nothing," Bella griped and stomped over to the passenger side of her truck door. She hesitated, seeing the extent of the damage. Her window was shattered, half the glass sticking out at lethal angles around a huge hole where Alice had shoved Victoria into it, and the door was heavily dented. "Thanks for getting me into my truck, though. I'm pretty sure that bitch lied about the coat hanger anyway. At least, I never ended up finding it…"

She carefully reached in as Alice winced contritely behind her.

"Hell, Bells, I'm sorry about that. Emmett can fix your truck, I swear. I wasn't thinking, she just made me so mad, the way she was talking about you-"

"Relax, Alice. It's no big deal. My truck's a piece of shit anyway. This just gives it some character," Bella reassured her as she cautiously popped the lock, being extremely certain not to cut herself.

She had tested Alice's control enough lately. No need to go giving herself a sliced vein to complicate things even more than the complexity of which they were reaching.

She pulled her arm back out and yanked the door open with some effort, avoiding the glass that tinkled down, before she reached in and snatched up her gym bag, shaking it a little as if it were the bags fault for getting left behind and getting her into this mess.

"He can fix it," Alice said again when Bella shut her door, which promptly swayed open a few seconds later…

Fuck it, it's not like there was anything in there worth stealing anyway.

"Seriously, Alice, it's cool. Come on, let's go. I'm freezing, and the later we are the more Mr. Gates will yell at me," Bella waved her off, trotting by her friend and glancing over her shoulder.

When Alice continued to pout guiltily as she followed behind, Bella furrowed her brow, before grinning broadly.

"Hey, Alice?"

"Yeah?" Alice cocked her head.

_That's not adorable_, Bella thought. (It was.)

"Race you!" she cried before bolting, immediately laughing when Alice yelped in protest at the unfair head start. (As if it mattered whether or not Bella had a head start.)

"Hey! Cheater!" she called, then instantly appeared right at Bella's side, making the girl yip in surprise. That made them both laugh as they sprinted back for the school, Alice loping along and pretending to let Bella have the lead before darting ahead of her, teasing her the whole way while Bella swore good naturedly.

By the time they finally reached the locker room –Alice won, of course- Bella was out of breath, gasping for air even as she laughed and laughed and laughed, and for a while, it was easy to forget that she had been assaulted by Victoria, that Victoria and Alice had almost come to blows, that she liked girls, and that yes, she maybe, kinda sorta totally had wanted to kiss Alice…

That is, until Alice stripped unabashedly before her the way she always did when they showered after P.E, except now things were different because they _both_ liked girls, even though Bella had never minded before because she trusted Alice not to be a perv, and she realized as Alice flung off her shirt and began unclipping her bra that she really, really wanted to kiss her.

Again.

_Fuck_, she thought as Alice smiled her gorgeous smile at her over her shoulder while she gasped for air, hands on knees from the hard run.

When Alice turned back around and dropped her bra on the bench, she quickly looked away, cheeks burning, having decided that she had had quite enough cardio for the day and did not need Alice making her heart beat so fast and hard anymore.

* * *

As terrible as the day before had been, when Friday came around, it kicked off on a pretty good note despite the fact that she had to get up at the ass crack of dawn for a morning detention, the one she'd gotten for skipping second period. But it was detention with Alice, so it was actually kind of fun. They amused themselves all morning by waiting for Coach Donnehue, who ran morning detention, to nod off as he frequently tended to do and continuously making loud, obnoxious banging noises when he did that startled him right back awake.

They quit when he finally yelled at them for 'dropping their books so damn much' and 'making a ruckus' every time he tried to 'rest his eyes' for a minute.

Rest his eyes, _right_. He was passed the fuck out the third time they did it which was probably why he jumped so high when she and Alice simultaneously 'accidentally' dropped their History books for the third time.

They giggled so much that he threatened yet another detention (which would bring Bella up to a resounding three left to go, because yeah, Coach Basselor had noticed that she never came back from the parking lot, and Mr. Gates definitely noticed her walk into fifth period with her hair still sopping wet from her shower, five minutes before the bell), so they cut it out and whispered the rest of the period, but it was enough to take the brunt of the boredom out of the detention.

And yet…

Her good mood was shattered in sixth period, which so happened to be another period she shared with Alice, as well as quite a few of the Cullen family. Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper also were in the class with her.

It was History, which was unfathomably boring to Bella, and she never paid much attention in it. She was surrounded by her friends, which didn't help. Thankfully, it was arguably her most friend-heavy class, with Alice, Jessica, Angela, Eric, and Emmett all sitting around her, so it wasn't too bad. Once she would have counted Jasper as a friend, but…She still had not really spoken to him since the incident with Alice. She had thought about it, but something about his manner towards her had become undeniably more reserved, so she gave him his space willingly.

She had already made out with the love of his life twice, and whatever explanation she might have probably wouldn't take much of the sting out of it. Vampires were notoriously possessive creatures anyway, and Jasper still sometimes struggled with his control.

Best not to poke the tiger, so to speak.

Anyway, she was in the middle of doodling a stick figure hanging itself (a portrait of herself, really, because holy fuck she did not care about the French-Indian war) when her phone vibrated in her pocket.

She lifted her head out of her hand and waited until Mr. Gordon turned back to the board before slipping it out of her pocket and holding it low under her desk so she could see who had texted her without getting caught.

She was excited when she saw that it was from Alice. It wasn't unusual for them to text during this class and it was always a lot more interesting when they did. She opened it.

_Having fun over there?_ It said and she glanced up to see Alice grinning at her on her right, looking as bored as Bella felt. Bella could only imagine the depth of I-don't-care Alice must be experiencing. She had been through high school a plethora of times and had probably learned about the French-Indian war enough to teach it better than Mr. Gordon ever could, droning on up there.

She turned back to her phone and quickly typed out a response, careful to make sure he wasn't looking when she did. It was only one word, so it didn't take much time. _Oodles_, she wrote and sent it, and smirked when Alice casually glanced at her phone a moment later, hidden behind the purse she had plopped down on the top of her desk.

Alice chuckled softly at her reply, and she watched pale fingers tap out a response. Her phone swiftly buzzed when she finished.

_I can tell. That's quite the morbid drawing you've got there. _

Bella looked at her and shrugged one shoulder in agreement before going to text her back.

_I know. But isn't it so pretty? I'm a bit of an artist, really. Look how realistic that noose is. _

That noose happened to be a straight line that was actually kind of wobbly protruding from the top of her paper. Alice snickered when she got it.

_Oh, I can tell. How come you never told me you were Picasso resurrected? _

Bella rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Alice at that, which only made the girl beam and wrinkle her nose at her.

_Picasso has nothing on me. I was thinking of framing this and giving it to Mr. Gordon. I'm pretty sure his voice is steadier than a surgeon's hand. He is so monotonous that it hurts. _

Alice read that and they shared an understanding look before she replied.

_God, tell me about it! I've never met a man who can keep his voice one continuous pitch with no change whatsoever. _

Bella had only just finished reading that one and was all set to text her response when her phone buzzed again, interrupting her.

_But hey, as much as I love gushing about how boring this godforsaken class is, I wanted to check on you. You've had one hell of a time these past couple of weeks and I want to make sure you're doing okay. _

Bella blinked at that but had to hide her phone when Mr. Gordon's eyes wandered over her. They passed over her harmlessly, and she pulled it back up.

_I've been doing good_, she wrote, then stopped, watching the cursor blink.

It was a lie, she realized. She hadn't really. Her constant anxiety had started making her stomach hurt a lot, and she wasn't eating as much as usual. She was constantly on edge whenever Victoria came around, even though Alice had turned into a virtual watch dog, her bodyguard. She rarely left Bella's side, always warding off the redhead with her presence, but still, Victoria's eyes cut through her anyway. It kept her on edge, and she still pondered over the gay thing, trying to figure out if she liked other girls as well, at least physically, besides Victoria. (And Alice. But she was still refusing to even think about that.)

She figured that she must and had never noticed, because she found herself examining girls closely throughout her day, watching them walk down the hall, musing over their faces, and mostly, thinking about kissing them.

Even though it left her blushing brightly as she did it, she could not deny that she liked the thought of it. She didn't recoil at the thought of pressing her lips to another girl's, and she remembered that she had never felt any true amount of disgust after kissing Alice or Victoria.

In fact, thinking about those kisses did more than actually kissing Edward had ever done for her…

Did that make her a lesbian instead of bisexual? She wasn't sure. She liked kissing him okay. It was nice, and sometimes it made her breath quicken and excited her, but remembering the way Victoria had straddled her, laid her hands on her and kissed her left her dizzier than Edward ever had, which was absolutely mortifying, but the point stood. The woman may have been a conniving bitch with uncertain motives, but there was no denying her beauty and sex appeal.

And kissing Alice…

Kissing Alice had been another thing entirely. Thinking about it always stirred her up to the point that she could not bear to acknowledge it any further and stopped thinking about it.

So did that make her like, sixty percent gay, 40 percent straight? Or was it like 70 to 30? Even more?

She had no. Freaking. Idea. She had spent all the previous night stressing over it, wondering over things she had never expected to have to wonder over.

Like, okay, fine, she liked girls.

Fine, fine, _fine_.

She could deal with that now; reality had given her no other choice. But when would she tell Charlie? What about her mom? What if it was only a phase spurred on by vampiric aura? What if it went away after awhile and she found herself out and proud but suddenly repulsed by being with another girl?

So no. No, she wasn't really good. She was actually pretty stressed the fuck out, and Alice could surely tell considering how well they knew each other, because she would not have asked if she was not totally sure that Bella was a hundred percent okay.

Bella backspaced what she wrote and then sent a truthful response. If anyone could help her or knew what she was going through, it would be Alice, and she really needed a good friend right now. Who else but Alice could fill those shoes? Who else but Alice really ever had?

_I'm okay, but I don't think I'm doing good. Does that make sense?_

Alice's eyes flickered up after reading that and when their eyes met she saw infinite compassion and understanding there that made her heart ache curiously. She was not sure why Alice had the capacity to feel for her and relate to her so much that it hurt as much as it soothed.

Her phone buzzed again.

_It does, honey. Is it the gay thing? _

Bella paused, Mr. Gordon turned away and began gesturing at a diagram on the board, and went back to her phone.

_Honestly? Yeah. I can't stop thinking about it. That ginger bitch didn't help at all. _

Alice smirked at that, but used vampire speed to reply even faster.

_I'm sure she didn't. I swear she won't get near you again, not as long as I'm around. Do you want to talk about it? _

Bella wrote back, _I wish you could tell me what her deal is, and_ _yeah, kinda, actually. I'm really confused. I'm pretty damn sure I like girls now for sure. You were right about the whole pheromone deal. I'm apparently completely capable of being into chicks…Wow. But I never had any idea. I keep wondering if I ever looked at them like that before but I can't remember if I did. But I…I've been looking recently. And I know that I do now. _

Alice's answer was instantaneous.

_I wish I could tell you too, but Bella, there's nothing wrong with any of that, so don't sweat it or lose sleep over it. The whole biting thing probably set it off something that was always inside of you. I always figured you might be, at least. _

Bella frowned at that and quickly texted, _And why would you think that?_

Did she come across gay or something?

Cassie and Lauren certainly seemed to think so.

But they were cunts, so their opinions don't count. They called all the boys they didn't like faggots, anyway, so whatever.

_I don't know, just a feeling. I think you've got the kind of heart that's too big and open to deny love based on gender. Plus, as far as you checking out other girls goes, I've caught you staring at my ass before. _

Spluttering, Bella whipped her head towards Alice who had a shit eating grin on her face when the brunette caught sight of her.

"Ms. Swan, Ms. Cullen, am I interrupting your conversation back there?" Mr. Gordon snapped and Bella quickly faced forward, cheeks flaming at being called out as Alice put a hand over her mouth to hide her laugh.

"No, sir," Alice drawled, and he grudgingly went back to 'teaching.' Angela's brow rose at her and Jessica snickered at the fact that they had gotten in trouble, but they were both yelled at so much for talking to each other in class that it wasn't really a big deal.

Bella texted back so fast it was a wonder she didn't snap her fingers. There were a couple typos in there too, along with some dreadful text slang in her hurry.

_when the hel did i stare at ur ass?_

Bella glared at her the whole time, affronted and internally panicking.

_I've never looked at her ass before, have I? I've never checked her out before! Did I? Was I really that gay without knowing it? Have I been looking at girls like that my whole life and just never knew? Shit! Am I a subconscious pervert? _

Her phone vibrated.

_Nice spelling, honey. You do it every now and then. You stare at other girls every now and then, too, but you never realize it. That's part of my whole hunch thing. It's mostly in P.E or the locker room. I thought you were just comparing or something, but then you kept doing it and your eyes would get this glossy look, so I figured there might be a different reason. _

Her cheeks.

Were on.

_Fire. _

Bella hissed in a breath and refused to look at Alice to see what expression might be on her face.

_Stop freaking out, Bells. It's no big deal. Everyone checks out what they like now and again. I always make the conscious effort not to blatantly stare though because it's kind of rude, so now that you know, you might wanna be a little more subtle_, Alice texted her again when all she could do was sit there and silently freak.

Bella sent her a look at that that made Alice raise her hands defensively.

_Yes it is a big deal! Jesus Christ, I'm a total lesbo and I never knew! I'm sorry, I never meant to look or anything, I never even noticed I was doing it. I always thought it was for comparison, too, but looking back now I guess I did look a little too long…FUCK._

She put her head down on her desk and groaned softly, ignoring the way Angela and Jess gave her weird looks for it.

Great. So not only was she gayer than a gay pride parade marching down the rainbow road of Mario Kart, but she was also a pervert.

_I never knew you were such a drama queen, honey. Then again, I guess this is a big deal for you. Bells, listen, it's natural. You're not a pervert for being attracted to people. You think no one ever looks at you that way? Boys do all the time, Victoria does (bitch), and I'm sure there are some gay girls in this school who do. I have. _

Her eyes widened as she reluctantly looked back to her phone again.

Huh?

_Boys do not look at me…Do they?_ She wondered. She never paid attention any of that crap, really. Sure, she figured she was okay looking, even kinda pretty on her good days, but nothing worth really checking out. Victoria acted otherwise, but Bella still didn't even know why she was here.

Then she read the last line of the text.

Alice had checked her out before? _Alice?_

_You've checked me out?_ She replied frantically, bewildered, her cheeks warming again…

And did her heart just skip a beat?

_Sure. Like I said, it's natural. I like girls, and you're a fairly beautiful girl, Bella. Of course we're only friends, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate that you're an attractive kind of gal. Plus I'm a vampire so sometimes I can't really help it. You know how strong your scent is to us. I hope that doesn't make you uncomfortable?_

Bella stared at Alice for the longest moment and all the vampire did was smile serenely back at her.

_It doesn't make me uncomfortable_, was all she could bare to send as her brain buzzed with the information.

Why did the thought of Alice's eyes on her like that make her squirm in her seat? And why did Alice complimenting her make her feel so warm and fuzzy on the inside?

_Good. But hey, I've got a question for you…_

_Go for it_, she replied weakly, head whirling.

_Do you think I have a nice ass?_

Bella dropped her phone, fumbled with it, and it hit the floor at the same time that somebody sneezed, barely covering the clatter, but nothing could disguise her idiotic scrambling. Thankfully, somebody had just asked a particularly inane question about whether the Indians they were talking about were the ones in India or the Native Americans, so when she leaned down and snatched it back up, pretending she had dropped her book not unlike she had in detention, Mr. Gordon didn't even give her a second glance.

She scooped it up as Mr. Gordon answered. Angela and Jess both snickered at her but she ignored them again and scowled at Alice.

Alice sat there innocently, twiddling her thumbs and whistling softly under her breath. Then she glanced at Bella out of the corner of her eye, and winked.

Little minx.

Before she could continue glaring, or blushing, or mentally shrieking, Alice was texting her again.

_Come on, admit it, I have a nice ass. It's fine if you like it. You must since I catch you looking at it so much. Hey, I don't have much in the upper carriage department, but I'm pretty proud of that behind at least. _

Bella experienced then what a cartoon character does when their faces turn bright red and steam pours out of their ears in shock and outrage at something.

When she finally found the ability to tap out a response, her thumbs moved with a leaden like quality and she wasn't sure if the room had risen fifty degrees or if she had genuinely spontaneously combusted.

_Alice, I don't think acknowledging how nice your ass is has anything to do with me being gay. How the hell did we get on this subject anyway?_

She remembered perfectly fine how they had gotten onto this subject, but that was irrelevant, because she wanted swiftly off of it.

Mr. Gordon obliged her.

"_Aha_! I knew you were texting in my class Ms. Swan!" Mr. Gordon suddenly cried and Bella jolted upright, instinctively trying to shove her phone out of sight.

Too late.

Mr. Gordon was not as oblivious as he seemed, apparently, and he quickly stomped over to her and stuck his hand out.

"I'll have that, thank you. You kids today are entirely rude and disrespectful, disrupting my class with your phones constantly. Give it here," he ordered.

Well, this wasn't embarrassing at all. She groaned and reluctantly handed it over as he ranted at her, sounding more passionate about people interrupting his class than he did when he was actually running it. The classroom devolved into sniggering at her having been caught and she saw Alice looking guilty for having been a part of her getting her phone taken.

"Always doing this to me, making me have to stop and stutter when I look around and see a screen flash or have nobody paying any attention because you're all texting your friends. Well you know what? I've _had_ it. I'm so sick of this. What was so important, huh Isabella? What was so much more interesting and cool than the history of our world that it simply _had_ to be shared with one of your pals? I'm sure the rest of us are dying to know. Well, why don't we find out?"

No.

_No. _

Bella gasped sharply and had no more time to do anything but freeze in her chair when he began to read her last text.

"_Alice-_" he paused and sneered at the vampire sitting to the right of her. "Oh, you were texting Ms. Cullen? I'll be having your phone too, Alice. Anyway-"

"Don't!" Bella pleaded, but he did not heed her.

"Mr. Gordon-" Alice's voice rang out, but he did not listen to her either.

"_Alice, I don't think acknowledging how nice your ass is has anything to do with me being gay. How the hell did we-" _

Mr. Gordon abruptly cut himself off as the class exploded, guffawing as he realized what he had just read aloud, and Bella yelped "Dude!" before sinking so far down into her seat that she was nearly parallel to the floor.

_No, no, no! _That stupid son of a bitch!

Mr. Gordon cleared his throat and awkwardly readjusted his tie. Everyone in the room was either hissing at the revelation of Bella's text or laughing outright.

He said nothing else, just turned and walked back to his desk as if he had done nothing wrong and pretended like no one in the room was even making a sound.

Bella was dying.

Her face was redder than it had ever been before and that was truly saying something. Her stomach twisted in on itself like a great big writhing snake. She did not look up from her desk, could not stand to look up and see Angela or Jessica's expressions, nor could she bear to meet Alice's undoubtedly compassionate eyes.

And that was how her day was ruined, because her History teacher outed her to everyone, and that was why she studied the grain of her desk for the rest of the class period, seething and hurting and fighting off tears until the bell rang. She was the first one out the door, and she did not stop even when she heard Alice desperately calling her name.

She just up and ran for it.

* * *

_**I caved and bumped it up to M because I'm tired of walking the line and it will definitely be M rated in the future anyway, and debated for like twenty minutes whether it would better serve to cut the chapter off after Bella peeped in the locker room, but then this would just have been a continuation chapter of the last one and nothing more. Now it has more of its own purpose. **_

_**On a side note, Bellice, Bellice, Bellice. Some people are worried (and others excited) that this is kind of a Victoria/Bella fic, which is absolutely not the case. Vicky just likes to fuck shit up, is all. **_

_**But no, seriously, Bellice is endgame. Duh. **_


	9. Chapter 9

Bella was running through the hall when everyone else was walking, spilling out of the classrooms and chattering loudly considering it was the end of the day. She bumped into more than a few and darted between the rest, eyes streaming and head down, ignoring the angry muttering whenever she ran into someone.

She hit the parking lot before anyone else and finally slowed to a fast walk, breathing hard. She sped over to her truck, eager to get away, out of this damned school, away from the fact that she had been outed to her classmates and knowing that soon it would be everyone that knew.

_That bastard Mr. Gordon. Damn him. _Damn_ it!_

Bella reached her beat up truck, vaguely catching the sound of people exiting the school with their friends, filling the parking lot. Anxiously she swung her bag around higher on her shoulder, having a little trouble seeing because her stupid eyes were overflowing and her breathing was ragged from running. She shoved her hand frantically into her pocket to get her keys, feeling as if everyone was looking at her even though that could not possibly be true.

Bella knew logically that they could in no way all know so fast, though surely it would already be spreading like wildfire from anyone who had been in History with her, the way all news in boring ass Forks did. Angela and Jessica knew already, that was just fucking perfect. Already she had two friends she would lose over this. She had heard the way they talked about Coach Basselor, and _she_ wasn't even really gay. Eric, Angela's boyfriend knew, too, and if he was anything like his Church bound father, that was another friend gone too.

"God _damn_ it!" Bella shrieked as she yanked her hand too quickly out of her pocket and her keys slipped out of her hand. They skittered under her truck and she swore so loudly that several heads turned towards her.

Blushing and half hysterical, she turned away from them, pressed her side against her truck and her face into her hands. She fought the sobs beginning to build in her chest. _Why is everything going so _wrong_? _She asked herself morosely, miserably pressing the heels of her hands into her eyeballs to press back the tears lest she break down right there in front of everybody.

Realizing that standing there like this was making everything worse, she took a ragged breath and dropped to her knees, ignoring the nasty concrete as she lurched under her truck, fumbling for her keys in the darkness beneath it. She found them beneath the front left wheel, grabbed them, and scrambled back up.

She quickly unlocked the driver's side and jumped in. She wanted to sob, and actually did a little as she saw her passenger side door swaying open in the breeze. She couldn't drive with her door swinging around everywhere.

"God damn it, God damn it, God _damn it_!" Bella cried, slamming her hand into the steering wheel.

She could not even properly flee from her issues. God, _why _was this happening to her?

"Bella! Bells! _Bella_!"

She shuddered and glanced up to the window, knowing that it could only be Alice calling out to her. It seemed her friend had finally caught up to her. Moments later the pixie appeared at her door side and gave her a plaintive look through the window.

Tears running down her face, Bella opened the door and stepped back out, shutting it behind her as Alice stood back to give her room and looked at her with her big beautiful amber eyes wide and her lovely face filled with an expression that tore Bella apart.

"Oh, Bells," she breathed and that was that.

Bella flung herself at her, sobbing as Alice arm's came around her waist and held her steady. She wrapped her arms around the pixie's neck and cried into it, burying her face into the spot where her shoulder sloped into it to hide away from all the prying eyes. Alice did not flinch or shy, just squeezed her close and murmured soothingly into her ear.

"Shh, Bells, it's okay, it's okay sweetie…It's _okay_, Bella, I'm right here…"

Bella shuddered again and inhaled the soothing pheromones Alice's body began to produce then. The fact that they were generally enacted to keep prey docile to stop them from running was irrelevant, because that white chocolate and berries scent was the only thing keeping her together.

Only Alice.

Bella peered uncertainly over the rim of her shoulder, feeling all the eyes burning into them. Sensing that they were being watched, Alice's arms around her tightened marginally and she rubbed at her back, hissing, "Ignore them. _Ignore_ them, Bella."

But she couldn't. Not even Alice's hand sweeping over her back could distract her.

She felt like everyone in the world knew. Her eyes caught a boy's across the lot, and she recognized Kent from her History class. He was staring blatantly at them with a group of his guy friends surrounding them, gesturing at them. What he was talking about could easily be discerned. When he noticed Bella's eyes on him, he smirked at her in a lewd sort of way that curdled her insides like spoiled milk.

_God damn it_, she thought again, taking such a shaky breath that her lungs rattled in her chest.

Bella ducked her head again and trembled, her sobs dying out as Alice's pheromones did their work. She made a pitiful sort of whimpering sound and Alice hushed her softly again, but already her breakdown was easing up thanks to her friend.

Maybe it wasn't her pheromones then. Maybe it was just Alice herself, being there for her.

Alice seemed to catch onto the fact that she was calming, and she eased her away slowly, hands on Bella's arms. Part of Bella rebelled at being pushed away from the safe haven Alice's arms provided, but it was countered by the other part of her that was still writhing in embarrassment.

"Honey," Alice said gently as Bella sniffled and rubbed furiously at her eyes, embarrassed at how she was acting but unable to help it.

Normally, she didn't believe she would be reacting this way. She would have freaked, yeah, but it all would have been internal and only the people that knew her would have been able to tell. However, all the events that had occurred over the past couple of weeks had built up and finally exploded with that jerk teacher, so her high wired emotions had reached a peak that became too much.

"God," she huffed and wiped at her face, her eyes swollen and undoubtedly red rimmed. "I'm being ridiculous," she mumbled, but Alice shook her head.

"No, you're not, Bella. That was so-so-That was _crap_. He should _never_ have done that," Alice dissented, refusing to let the brunette belittle herself.

"I just-" Bella groaned and hugged herself, arms squeezing at her middle. Part of her really wanted to fall back into Alice's arms and bask in her comfort, but she was desperate to get control of herself so she did not make things worse than they already were, or make herself look any more pathetic than she already felt. "I just-I didn't even get to be gay for a day and now _everyone_ knows. Everyone's gonna know now, and I-"

"It'll be okay," Alice told her kindly, squeezing her biceps lightly.

"No it won't," Bella shook her head, eyes watering again as she saw all the people looking at them and muttering.

No place could ever spread news so quickly but a high school. Surely the people in her History class were already telling everyone they could, and it was honestly terrifying how many people kept glancing at her in the parking lot. Sure, she had been acting kind of crazy and she had been crying hard, but still…

"Bella, listen," Alice redirected her attention and rubbed gently at her naked arms. Bella was clad in only a short sleeved band tee, having left her jacket in History in her haste, and even though Alice's hands were as chilly as the weather, somehow, they still seemed to warm her.

It might have had something to do with the electricity racing up and down them from her touch, but Bella only ignored that, too needful of comfort to resist it.

"I won't lie to you. Forks is the kind of place where yeah, people are going to find out quick, but you are _not_ alone. Whatever happens, I'm here for you, and so is the rest of my family."

She doubted Rosalie really gave a shit, and Edward had up and left her without so much as a goodbye, but she chose not to point that out. No use making herself feel even worse.

"People might be shitty to you…In fact, I know some will. A lot, really," Alice informed her and Bella's eyebrows rose, a cringe on her face when Alice winced at her mild lack of tact. "Sorry, I just don't want to sugarcoat this…But even if they are, we'll be right there with you. You know I've always got your back, and not everyone in this tiny town is a bigot. There are plenty of good people in this town who won't care, I promise. And I really doubt you can have friends like Angela and Jessica turn on you for something like this…"

The fact remained that she was now officially out, and not quite proud, in Forks, Washington, a rural, religious town known for gossiping like hissing snakes and judging quickly anything new. And Alice had not heard the way Jessica squeaked in disgust when Angela started talking about Coach Basselor, or the way Angela had made faces just talking about it.

Not to mention…

"Alice, what about my _dad_?" she gasped, hands going to her head in distress. "He'll definitely found out when it _really_ gets out!"

She was halfway to panicking again when Alice's cool hands cupped her face and redirected her eyes straight back to her own.

Oh.

_Oh. _

Bella froze, cheeks heating against Alice's cool palms.

Ah…What was she flipping out about again?

"Easy, Bella. It's going to be fine. Nobody loves you more than Charlie. He's your _father_. I've seen the way that man looks at you. He may not show it much, but you're his little girl, and he's not going to be reciting bible passages at you, he's going to be cocking his shotgun at anyone who tries to hurt you. No one will be there for you like Charlie, I guarantee you that."

"How can you know that?" Bella whispered, eyes filling up again, her voice breaking.

_Charlie can't hate me. Anyone but Charlie, I don't care what anyone says. I can't have my father, my dad…My _daddy_ hating me. I won't be able to stand it, _she thought miserably, but Alice's thumbs swiped at the tears tracking down her face and she smiled reassuringly at her. Something about the white of her teeth and the sincerity in her eyes reached inside Bella and just…_Relaxed_ her.

_Everything will be okay_, it said. _Everything will be okay_, Alice was saying, and Bella's shoulders lowered with a sigh.

"I can see the future, remember?" Alice wrinkled her nose at her in the way that she did, and Bella snorted, a weak grin pulling at her mouth to match Alice's ever contagious one. But then she furrowed her brow, realizing something.

"Hey, how come you didn't see Mr. Gordon taking my phone up, then?" she cocked her head and Alice let go of her face, looking immensely guilty.

It was astonishingly easier to think when Alice wasn't cradling her cheeks like that.

"Um…I don't have an excuse for that. I usually look out for it, but I got too preoccupied with messing with you and…Forgot?" Alice grimaced as she said it and Bella pouted at her. "Shit, Bella, I know I'm an awful friend. I'm so sorry. I should have been watching, and then this never would have happened…"

There was some truth to that, but it technically wasn't even Alice's responsibility to make sure Bella kept from getting caught. It was her own fault she supposed for being so obvious, dropping her phone and making so much noise about it. She did not blame Alice any more than she blamed herself.

"It's fine. I was being obvious, anyway. It's no wonder he caught me," Bella shrugged off the apology, but Alice still looked ashamed.

"I still should have paid attention," Alice said sadly, fiddling with her hands and eyeing Bella miserably. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "Way to screw up when it really counts, huh?"

Bella rolled her eyes at her, trying to get across that the last thing she was doing right now was judging Alice for what had happened.

"Dude, it's okay. Not everyone's perfect, not even you," she smirked, if a bit feebly and Alice scoffed at her. She was trying hard to pretend like her world wasn't crashing down on her. Alice certainly helped with that, mostly because she had put her hands up and caught the weight of it before it could crush her.

"Pfft, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm _flawless_," Alice said in an exaggerated flamboyant, preppy voice and flipped her short locks with one hand, which made them both giggle.

Only Alice could make her laugh at a time like this, when her world felt like it was coming down.

Only Alice…

So okay, yes, she was still anxious as all hell that she had just been outed, and Alice may have been able to see the future, but that was always changing, and she was sure it was going to be mostly bleak anyway, but...

Alice always had that way of making everything okay again.

She watched her best friend soften as they looked at each other, really looked at each other then, Bella miserable and Alice so empathetic that she might as well have Jasper's powers, too.

"It'll be alright," Alice vowed and Bella took a ragged breath that made her heart ache. "It will, I promise. You're not alone in this. I'm going to be with you every step of the way. I'm always here for you, Bells, and I won't let anyone hurt you."

Alice's undying support lifted a lot of the weight off of her chest, along with how convinced she seemed to be that it would all work out. She nodded and rubbed at her arms again, shivering a bit, but despite all of Alice's efforts to make her feel better despite the gravity of the situation, she still felt a creeping, foreboding depression coming on.

Alice, of course, noticed.

"Hey, look Bella, why don't you come spend the weekend at my house? Emmett and Jasper are going out of town, and Carlisle, Esme, and Rose always keep to themselves. We can make a girl's thing out of it. I'm sure Charlie won't mind having the house to himself for a few days," Alice offered cheerily, her attempt at making Bella feel better as transparent as it was heartwarming.

Bella opened her mouth to say no instinctively, already succumbing to the urge to go home, lock herself in her room, and never leave it again, but then she stopped. _Actually…That sounds like a great idea_, she thought. _If I go home and sit and think about it I'll probably be dead come Monday from dehydration, because I'll be crying my eyes out like a baby. But if I go with Alice, she'll keep my mind off of it like nobody else can…_

"Sure," she agreed and Alice beamed, which only further indicated to Bella that that was a much better idea than going home to sulk and pout. God forbid she did that and Charlie asked what was wrong. She didn't know if she could lie to him in this state.

"Okay, cool. Do you want to spend the night tonight too, or go home, or-"

"Tonight, too. Friday nights are always when I hang with Angela and Jess but I…I really can't face them right now," Bella said regretfully and Alice nodded in understanding.

"That's great but um. I don't know if you want to spend like all weekend at my house…I would love for you too, but I was kinda hoping you might-er…Ask Charlie if you can stay home Monday? So if you spend tonight there too that'll be like four days which might be a bit much but…" Alice needled, trying to push Bella towards something she wasn't quite getting.

_What?_ Bella tilted her head, confused. "And why would I do that?" she probed curiously.

"Well…" Alice drawled, avoiding her eyes and shifting on her feet. "I may or may not be suspended for a day-And that may or may not be because I called Mr. Gordon an asshole after you left…And a dickhead," Alice admitted, adorably drawing it out as she scrunched up her face.

Bella's jaw dropped. "Are you serious? Mary Alice Brandon called someone an asshole and a dickhead? She called a _teacher_ an asshole and a dickhead?" she gawked, torn between shock and amusement.

Sweet, sweet Alice flinging insults like that? No way. The worst she had ever heard from Alice had been when she called Victoria a bitch, but that was merely an accepted fact. But to go off on a teacher like that?

"I also called him a prick," Alice mumbled, sounding both proud and shameful, to which Bella only threw back her head and really, truly laughed. Alice grinned at her for that, and Bella matched her smile much easier now, affection for her friend taking over the anxiety of her outing.

"Don't laugh, I was defending your honor!" Alice giggled. "He deserved it anyway."

Alice, Alice, Alice…

She truly was the best.

"I love you, Alice," Bella chuckled, and then her smile froze in place.

The same way Alice had never said 'I love you' to Bella before, Bella had never said it to her either. It had only slipped out, but for some reason when it slid off her tongue so naturally she felt as if she had done something wrong. She knew it was dumb to think that way, but could not seem to help it.

"Aw, I love you too, Bells. Now, I think you'll be needing a ride back to your place?" Alice said matter-of-factly, clearly not experiencing anything like what Bella was.

The brunette blushed but nodded and Alice motioned for her to follow, beginning to babble about how she would make sure Emmett got her truck all fixed up as fast as possible and apologizing profusely for having messed it up in the first place. Bella let her ramble because it didn't matter how many times she told her it was fine, that she was grateful it was the truck that got fucked up and not one of them, that it had been necessary. Alice would still feel bad for it, so oh well. She sounded cute when she ranted anyway.

Bella sighed.

Well, what? There's nothing wrong with thinking your best friend is cute, is there? She could acknowledge that. Alice had said so herself. She needed to stop acting like Alice having attractive qualities meant she wanted to jump the girl or something, damn. (She could tell herself that as much as she could tell Alice she did not mind her truck being trashed, but it did even less good there.)

Thankfully the parking lot was almost empty at this point so no one was really looking anymore. The vampire led her to the family Cadillac and graciously opened the passenger side door for her. Bella felt a weird flutter in her tummy at that, but she squashed it and muttered, "Thanks."

"No problem," Alice replied loftily as she got in on the other side a moment later, then promptly cranked the heat as Bella continued to shiver, chilled from being outside so long without a jacket. Warm air blasted her soothingly and a few minutes later Alice was driving them down the road and towards the weekend, which would hopefully be better than her absolutely shitty week.

And as long as Alice had a say so in it, she was completely hopeful it would be.

* * *

Charlie was, indeed, fine with her spending the whole weekend at Alice's house, only after she told him that Edward was gone and all the boys would be gone too.

He was _not_ fine when she told him why Edward was gone, and had up and left her for his ex. Charlie cursed the Cullen vampire, asked Bella if she wanted him to beat Edward up when he came back. She rushed to assure him that it wasn't a big deal; that she had planned on breaking up with him anyway. It was a half truth, but Charlie eventually relented, promising if he ever saw Edward again he would give him a piece of his mind.

It wouldn't do much more than embarrass the hell out of Bella, but the thought was what counted, and she appreciated his fatherly grumbling more than he could know. She wanted his love more than anything at this point, so she gave him an extra long hug before leaving with Alice.

And Alice had not disappointed her hopes that her weekend would be better than her week.

All weekend the tiny vampire had kept her from thinking about anything other than the fun they were having. It helped that after the fourth text from Jessica and the third phone call from Angela that she turned off her phone to block them out, as bad as she felt for it. She couldn't bear to face them yet.

Friday Alice took her to a movie and by the time they got home, Bella wasn't even thinking about how she had been outed by her jackass History teacher because she was giggling her way through Alice's ridiculous impression of the French guy that had starred in it. She laughed so hard she snorted the first time Alice screwed up her face dramatically and said, "Sacre bleu!" in an exaggerated version of the actor's already flamboyant accent.

Saturday they spent all day hanging out at the local park feeding the ducks, only going home when it began to drizzle rain, then all night Alice and Esme kept her distracted as they made her a fantastic steak dinner. Watching Esme and Alice go back and forth about the semantics of modern day rap was almost as fun as participating in the conversation. Alice swore up and down that bass lines made up for the trashy lyrics, but Esme argued that even a good bass line was no excuse for misogyny. Alice told her she was reading too much into it, and Esme told her she was brainwashed by the media, to which Alice gave her such a look of offense that Bella broke down giggling. She was delighted to find that Esme was as witty as she was hospitable, and snickered every time the auburn haired vampire outsmarted her daughter or made a better comeback…Until Alice gave her a mock look of betrayal and flicked flour at her, coating her in white dust.

Which, naturally, started a flour flinging war that even Esme got dragged into, which only ended when the oven dinged loudly and interrupted Bella in the middle of dumping a whole bag of flour on Alice's head.

Esme noticed the mess they made and called a stop to it, but she was smiling like crazy as she did. Thankfully while she went up stairs to clean up and shower the two vampires handled the mess with godly speed, and by the time she came back down, dinner was ready and somehow both of them were neat and clean again.

It was a great time, and it was incredible how she forgot all of her problems chilling with Alice and occasionally Esme. She did not see Rosalie around, and Alice told her the blond tended to stick to her own room. Carlisle was constantly working, so she did not see much of him either.

Alas, even Alice could not keep her attention forever, and by the time Sunday evening rolled around, they found a genuinely silent stretch of down time, just quietly chilling together in Alice's room. Bella was working on spare bits of homework, sprawled belly down on the girl's bed and Alice was reading a book on Feng Shui , perched on her computer chair (on one foot) as she readjusted the dream catcher hanging from her ceiling fan.

Bella got sidetracked watching her do all of this at the same time, amazed when Alice balanced effortlessly, ran her eyes over the pages and untied the dream catcher without looking at it.

"I don't know whether to be impressed or jealous," she said, breaking the comfortable silence they had lapsed into almost an hour ago.

It was cool how they could talk for hours, but be dead silent with each other for just as long and still be comfortable with it. Sure, they loved to talk to each other, but sometimes they also wanted to simply hang out and enjoy each other's company instead of constantly babble. They did not have to talk to enjoy each other, and it was one of the things Bella loved best about their friendship.

"A bit of both, I would say," Alice chuckled, glancing at Bella out of the corner of her eye. She went up on the tiptoes of the one foot she was using to balance on the back of the chair and swiftly retied the dream catcher, having unknotted the strings because the book claimed tangled cords and ropes were bad juju or something.

Sometimes Alice was pretty weird, but Bella only appreciated her more for it.

Alice hopped down and snapped the book shut, tossing it haphazardly at the bed, where it barely missed Bella's head. Bella gave her the stink eye, but grinned at the twinkle in Alice's eye.

"How's that Algebra coming?" Alice asked amiably, floating over.

"It's not," Bella groaned and gestured at the mass of scratch paper and balled up wads of failed attempts littering Alice's queen sized mattress.

"I told you, Algebra's for weenies," Alice said sagely and Bella stuck her tongue out at her.

"Then you must be an uber weenie. You've been doing Algebra for years," Bella countered, to which Alice only scoffed.

"Please, I am the epitome of awesome. I am in no way a weenie. You, on the other hand, should be the mascot for Oscar Meyer or something," she retorted to which Bella gasped.

"You ass!" she giggled and sat up, shutting her textbook heavily. She held it up threateningly and Alice put her up her hands.

"Whoa there, Tiger. Careful, you might put an eye out with that," she snickered and when Bella opened her mouth to reply, she snatched the book right out of her hands.

"Hey!" she protested, but Alice only tossed it away where it thumped loudly across the room and against Bella's backpack.

"You're a bully," Bella pouted as Alice leapt onto the bed next to her, beaming innocently.

"No, you're just too easy to mess with," Alice pointed out superiorly, and Bella's bottom lip jutted out.

"Oh my god, don't," Alice grinned. "That is too _cute_."

Bella glared at her, but Alice only reached over and began pinching her cheeks, cooing at the brunette like one might coo at a baby. Bella growled and swatted her hands away, huffing irately, which only made Alice giggle.

When Alice noticed her scowling, she wiped her face smooth and replaced her smile with a faux contrite look. They stared at each other for a minute, Bella with arms crossed and Alice sitting cross legged, trying to look as apologetic as possible, but the way the corners of her lips quivered gave her away.

"Jerk," Bella finally gave in to the heavy silence first, and Alice laughed, eyes lighting up.

"Aw, don't be that way, Bells. You know I just like to pick on you," she said. Then she leaned over and poked her in the side playfully.

"Hey!" Bella yelped, flinching and instinctively covering her sensitive side, her glare giving way to a laugh.

Sensing weakness, Alice did not respond other than to quirk an eyebrow at her, lean forward, and poke her other side. Bella yelped again and slapped at her hands, but Alice was not deterred.

"Oh, is that a grin I see?" she teased, poking at all the areas Bella could not cover with her arms, giggling when Bella swore at her.

"No," she resisted, but she was smiling like an idiot, fighting Alice's quick hands as best a she could. "Knock it off!"

As if to punctuate her playful demand, her stomach gave a forceful, plaintive gurgle, rumbling embarrassingly loud and making Alice halt her attack. Blushing, Bella put one hand on her belly, startled at how hungry she actually was now that her stomach had let her know that it wanted feeding. She could not remember the last time she had eaten.

"Okay, fine, jeez, you don't have to growl at me," Alice joked. "C'mon, let's go get the human some food."

"That sounds awesome," Bella agreed gratefully.

Alice slid off the bed as simple as that and gracefully floated towards the door. Bella followed after her, but Alice was already disappearing into the hallway, moving unnaturally fast.

"Hey, what's the rush?" she called, jogging to catch up. Surely Alice did not like to scrounge up food for her _that_ much. Yeah, the vampires in the house generally had fun trying to get Bella suitable sustenance, having a weird curiosity for getting her food and watching her eat because they were unable to do so themselves, but still.

She quickly rounded the corner, and honestly, she really should have seen it coming.

"Boo!" Alice barked right in her face, having camped right outside her door and waited for Bella to walk out.

"Shit!" Bella cried and lurched back as Alice's chiming laugh rang out.

"Language!" Esme's voice called faintly from somewhere in the house and Bella turned crimson.

"Sorry, Esme!" Bella replied in a loud voice and then immediately scowled at her snickering friend.

"Ooh, Bella got in trooouble," Alice taunted in the tone of a small child, eyes twinkling.

She may have been a hundred and eight years old, but maturity wise, when Alice got in a goofy mood, she could be ridiculous.

Ridiculously and adorably maddening, that is.

"You're so dead," Bella grit out and Alice's face screwed up in mock fear.

"Only if you can catch me," Alice winked, then turned and bolted down the hallway for the stairs at a slightly faster than human speed. Bella sprinted after her, yelling the most unrealistic death threats she could come up with while Alice squealed. They pounded down the staircase with Alice just of reach, pleading for mercy.

They skidded into the kitchen a moment later and Alice ran around the table, avoiding Bella's snatching hands. They ended up on either side of it, and every time Bella moved to go one way, Alice would go the other.

"Oh my, I am in a pickle, aren't I?" the vampire grinned, amber eyes glittering.

"Yep. You're mine now," Bella smirked, slightly out of breath.

She was still painfully out of shape, of course. It was odd that she was though, considering how much Alice ran her around all the time.

"Am I?" Alice's eyebrow rose challengingly. "Because I seem to be over _here_…And _you_ seem to be over _there_…You can't very well-what was it you said? Stab me with a wooden stake? Or no, was it make me eat garlic?" she cocked her head as if thinking about it and Bella snorted at her.

"It was both, and I can," Bella declared, feigning left before jerking back right. Alice followed her movements easily, and they stayed on opposite ends of the table.

_Damn_, she thought, mouth trembling as she tried not to grin at the haughty smirk on Alice's face.

This was quite possibly the dumbest thing, but Bella was having way too much fun. Her heart was racing and she was trying to keep up her murderous front, but with Alice, it was always hard not to burst out laughing.

"Well…What if I told you I have a hostage?" Alice drawled, and not taking her eyes off of Bella, she took a step back, reached behind her, and grabbed something off the counter. "The last pack of Ramen noodles, huh? It's chicken flavored. Your favorite…"

Bella blinked as her stomach grumbled again, which made Alice snicker. Blushing and blinking, she shook her head.

"Sorry, even tempting me with food won't save you this time," she sighed in an exaggerated manner as Alice dangled the package of noodles teasingly in one hand. Actually, it might. She was really kinda starving at this point. "You've scared me one too many times, my friend, and now you have to pay."

"I told you, you'll have to catch me first," Alice stared at her in total disregard, looking entirely comfortable as she swayed back and forth, taunting Bella. "And sweetie, you never will."

"Oh yeah?" Bella boasted, hands tightening on the edge of the table.

"Yeah," Alice grinned.

And so Bella launched over the table to prove her wrong.

Alice actually shrieked as she did it, apparently surprised. Stunned by her unforeseen shock value, Bella clambered over the top of the table swiftly and Alice got cornered where the stovetop counter and sink counter met up.

"How did you not see that coming Ms. Clairvoyance?" Bella guffawed as Alice made a noise and immediately shoved the Ramen noodles behind her back to defend them from Bella's grabbing hands.

"I was giving you a fair shot!" Alice crowed back, giggling like mad as Bella pressed her back into the counter and scrambled at her hands. Alice kept the Ramen noodles just out of her reach, Bella reaching around her desperately, her laugh stuttering out of her as she tried not to let it out, but when Alice was howling in her ear like that, it was impossible.

Alice stuck the hand with the package straight up in the air and Bella lunged for it, but it was a feint. Suddenly she found herself spinning and then _she_ was the one pinned to the counter, Alice's free hand pressing strongly against her chest. She gasped when her back thudded into it and her elbows sprawled out on each of the perpendicular counters, panting and smiling up a storm. Alice tossed the pack out of reach and it landed with a clatter on the table, and then she grabbed Bella's wrists and pinned her hands down on the counter, craning forward on her tiptoes to do so.

"Who's got who now, huh?" Alice murmured triumphantly with twinkling eyes and her nose all wrinkled up and-

And their faces were _right next to each other_.

Bella froze up, swallowing hard as she tensed, startled still by how close they were. She could feel Alice's breath on her, and…_Christ_, her hands were a pair of handcuffs keeping her locked tight. Their bodies were brushing gently every time Bella inhaled or exhaled heavily. She found it hard to swallow, their eyes impossibly close as they stared deeply at each other.

Alice seemed to realize their position at the same time that she did, because she fell statue still a moment later, her smile slipping away into an unreadable expression, as did Bella's.

_What…How did we get like this…_Bella wondered anxiously and…_Excitedly_? She felt Alice's vampiric aura slowly slip over her like an old familiar friend. Pheromones dipped curiously into her pores, flicking on nerves like light switches. Her core tightened and she breathed in Alice's intoxicating scent without meaning too, gnawing the inside of her lip. The kitchen had gone uncomfortably, tantalizingly silent.

Alice did not move.

Bella did not move.

_What are we doing? Why is she looking at me like that? Why am _I_ looking at _her_ like that?_ Bella mentally freaked, her body beginning to stir in a frightening way.

Electricity crackled along her skin and between them, the tension becoming tangible when neither of them made a sound, made a single movement, only watched each other, so close, too close, not close enough…

"Bella…" Alice broke the silence with the softest of whispers, her voice a coaxing murmur on Bella's wanting ear drums.

Bella's knees almost buckled when Alice's head tilted just _so_ and so did hers, but in the opposite way, without her permission, mindlessly, instinctively mimicking the movement. Her chin dipped at the same time that Alice sort of swayed on the tips of her toes, and suddenly their fronts melded together, and Bella sank down an inch as the pixie kind of dipped forward the tiniest bit, and Bella mimicked that too without meaning too, having no idea what the hell was going on or what she was doing-

_Is she going to kiss me?_ She internally screamed. _She's going to kiss me! Holy shit, Alice is going to kiss me!_

"Alice?" she squeaked as the vampire's lips parted and Bella trembled, dying at the way Alice felt against her and the way her wrists stayed trapped in a much gentler, cool grip, the way Alice's eyes pierced her to her very soul, like the way they had in Biology, only now her eyes were not furious but soft in such an intimate way that she was tingling from the back of her skull down to the tips of her toes with anticipation and want and need…

_Alice is going to kiss me, and I'm going to let her…Fuck, I think I'm going to kiss her, too!_ _What is happening? What do I do? What do I _do_! _Bella thought frantically, and they both moved together, eyes still open though lidded, and then their lips were a centimeter a way, a millimeter away, a micrometer, a goddamn _nano_meter-

"Hey, Alice, I know you're having just _so_ much fun with your pal Bella acting like a bunch of psychopathic screaming little children down here but-Oh."

Bella jumped so hard that her left elbow swung back and smacked the dish rack as Alice drew back vampirically fast, a foot away in the blink of an eye. She yelped in pain and cradled her stinging funny bone as Rosalie came to a halt at the entrance to the kitchen, eyebrows high and lips pressed together in a line.

"Huh. Well don't you two look cozy," she drawled, slinking into the kitchen like a mischievous house cat. The amusement in her voice had Bella's face skipping straight through red towards a pale white and she stared down at the floor tiles, breathing hard.

_Shit. Shitty shit shit_, she thought vulgarly, beyond mortified and confused. _What the _hell_ just happened? _

She chanced a glance up and grimaced at the cat-that-ate-the-canary look on Rosalie's face, the sneer adorning her pretty features. Alice's arms were crossed over her chest and she was watching Rosalie warily, her posture tight.

"Did you want something?" she inquired, voice just bordering on rude as Rosalie continued to look at them like that.

"Yes. But so did you," Rosalie replied mockingly and Bella averted her eyes, preferring to study the floor some more.

"What is it?" Alice snapped, unusually hostile. Bella glanced up again, gazing at her friend in bewilderment and with a quiet hint of desperation.

She would give anything to know what was going through Alice's mind right then, but Rosalie only gave a derisive laugh.

"Don't get pissy with me because I ruined your sordid little game with the human. Carlisle just got home, and he wants to get started now," the blond groused, cocking one hip out as she crossed her arms as well, not appreciating Alice's tone.

"We were just talking," Alice lied. "There's nothing sordid about that. And not right now, Bella was just about to eat."

What the bloody mess were they talking about?

"Do what?" Bella said, her voice so husky that she coughed to hide it, cheeks searing red when Rosalie's judging gaze flickered over to her.

"Oh, you'll find out. And no, it has to be now. Carlisle's running a double shift tonight and he has to go back to work in an hour. You can finish playing pet the kitty with Bella when we're done, don't worry," Rosalie sneered.

Mother_fucker_.

Bella's ears and neck flushed such a brilliant red it was a wonder she did not blind them all. Alice stiffened and shot Rosalie a glare that could rival even the blonde's.

"_Rose_-"

But Rosalie only blew them a kiss and stalked back out, ignoring the warning in Alice's tone.

And then there was silence.

Bella hugged herself uncertainly as Alice shuffled her feet and sighed, ran a hand through her black locks. When she finally turned back to the brunette, Bella was warring with the profound urge to run for it.

"Come on, Bella. Carlisle wants to talk to you," Alice informed her, sounding normal but unusually restrained.

What?

Was that it?

They weren't even going to talk about what had just happened?

Bella stared at her uncomprehendingly, still remembering the way they had stood so close and…And nearly _kissed_. But Alice only gestured for her to follow, and Bella knew that yes, Alice was literally going to pretend as if nothing had happened.

She supposed she understood the reasoning behind that, and most of her wholeheartedly agreed with that because she was seconds away from freaking the fuck out, but another tiny part of her protested ignoring it, pleaded with Alice not to do this…

The bigger part won out and when Alice walked out of the kitchen to follow after Rosalie without another word, Bella could only helplessly follow, mind going a thousand miles a minute. She found it hard to think when experiencing such a serious case of what-the-actual-fuck, so she remained as silent as her friend.

_Did that really just happen? Seriously? I can't believe…I mean surely we weren't going to…Were we? Alice sure looked like she wanted to…Or am I just hoping she did? Did I even want to kiss her? Was I just caught up in the moment? I can't have wanted to kiss my best friend…What the hell _was_ that? _

When she entered the living room, Alice stood next to her adoptive father, conversing quietly with him. Rosalie was perched on the arm of the loveseat while Esme hovered next to her, pulling back her sheet of blond hair into a tight ponytail.

Further confused, Bella stood there awkwardly, rubbing the back of her still hot neck.

"Hello, Bella," Carlisle greeted her genially. "Come in, I'd like to talk with you for a moment, if you don't mind."

Bella obliged, mostly because she had no idea what else to do, and walked over to him. Alice stood by him, and when she approached, the pixie did not meet her eyes. Something about that gave her a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, but Bella fought it off, turning instead to Carlisle.

"Bella, I apologize to interrupt your night like this, but I have a favor to request of you, should you be willing to participate. It is perfectly fine if you wish to reject, but I strongly suggest you give the matter ample consideration," Carlisle said to her in his doctor's voice, which only bewildered her even more.

"Um…Okay," she said, brow furrowing.

Alice still wouldn't look at her, and it was distracting her.

"Do you remember the effects your bite had on our Alice, Bella?" Carlisle asked her.

"Yeah," she responded skeptically, desperate to know what the hell was going on.

Of course she remembered that. How could she not? It was part of what had been stressing her lately, the way she had nearly turned Alice human, and all that had followed after she had bitten her friend.

"Well, then you will remember we never really came to a conclusive theory about the full effects your peculiar bite employs. Of course we have ideas, but I am extremely curious to know the full extent it can reach. I believe it would be safer to know the effect you can have on our species as well, because if you can do this, you may be capable of certain other abilities," Carlisle explained and Bella cocked her head at him.

"Uh…Okay," she said, blindsided by what she had been brought in for. "Why? And…You want to do this how?"

"That's where Rosalie comes in," Esme caught her attention and she turned to her and Rose. Astonished, Bella swiftly connected the dots, and when realization dawned on her face, Rosalie gave her a sickly sweet smile and a mocking wave from the love seat, hair tied up and porcelain neck exposed. She wore a white cami that bore her smooth shoulders completely.

What.

The.

Fuck.

Were they being for real? They wanted her to bite _Rosalie_?

"Are you serious?" she gawked, eyes flicking back and forth between Rosalie, Esme, Alice, and Carlisle.

"Completely, sadly," Rosalie affirmed in her scornful way.

Bella realized another thing as she stood there, blinking rapidly. She rounded on Alice and barely kept from glaring at her.

"Is that the only reason you asked me to hang out this weekend?" she demanded. She felt set up all of the sudden, having this sprung on her so fast. Alice immediately drew up in offense, staring back defensively.

"No," she denied, a little heat in her voice at the betrayed expression on Bella's face. "No, I asked you to hang out because I _wanted_ to hang out with you. I didn't even know Carlisle wanted to do this until Friday night. He wanted to tell you himself, which is why I haven't brought it up."

Bella was not entirely sure she believed her at first, the hurt feeling in her chest blinding her, but Carlisle confirmed it by nodding.

"You have weird ways of 'hanging out,'" Rosalie scoffed from the love seat, and Esme hushed her as Alice gave her a scathing look and Bella blushed again.

_Don't think about it_, she warned herself. _Just don't_.

"Bella, Alice is being honest. I did want to talk to you about it personally," Carlisle said sincerely.

Relief that she had not spent this so far great weekend with Alice for an ulterior motive relaxed Bella a bit, but not much. What they were asking of her…

"Why, though? What's the point? We know nothing good comes from me biting vampires. What does it matter?" she inquired.

At this, Alice and Carlisle shared a look that Bella had come to find out means that they were keeping something from her. They were doing that a lot lately, and it was starting to annoy her. She wasn't really keen on this. The last time she had bitten a vampire shit had gotten out of hand faster than she could close her fingers around it, and she was not anxious to have a repeat fiasco. Especially not with Rosalie of all people. And why the hell was Rosalie going to be the guinea pig here, anyway? Rosalie hated her.

"Like I said, for safety purposes. And out of purely scientific curiosity, as well. Truly, your bite is a remarkable thing, Bella. I'm anxious to know if it is only Alice that you affect so, or all vampires, and how many bites it takes to gain those effects, the duration of the bite needed, how hard it is…" Carlisle ticked things off on his fingers, talking matter-of-factly.

"Why do I have to bite _Rosalie_ though?" she questioned warily, trying not to frame the question in an offensive way, though that was impossible.

"Because I volunteered, human. No way would you be putting your mouth on me if I wasn't letting you. You should be overjoyed. This is a once in a lifetime chance for you to act out even a little of your brand new Sapphic fantasies on me," Rosalie snarked from her seated position, folding one leg over the other and sneering at her.

"Rosalie," Esme snapped at her, and Rosalie grimaced at the motherly tone. "_Be nice_."

Bella was fuming at that, but she ignored the anger Rosalie was beginning to invoke in her like she always did. Asking Rosalie to be nice was liking asking a rapid dog to stop snarling at you, so whatever.

"Why would you volunteer for this? You hate me," she pointed out needlessly.

She was aware that she was nitpicking now, trying to find any reason not to do this.

"Yes. But believe it or not, most vampires _like_ being vampires. Save for Eddie boy who's up in Denali making whoopee with his ex, I'm the only one who actually misses being human. Alice didn't like it and didn't want to do it, and Carlisle and Esme have no interest in reverting to their old selves. Neither did Jasper and Emmett, so I'm the best we've got," Rosalie informed her, treading the line between civil and scornful. Her mention of Edward was a clear jab that Bella ignored.

This was all too much. Bella looked around the room, taking in all the vampires standing before her. Esme looked at her encouragingly, as did Carlisle, though he looked more pensive than his wife. Alice was still barely meeting her eyes and it was starting to give her a heartache as well as a stomachache, and she had no idea what to do.

_You should say no_, she told herself. _This has bad idea written all over it. There are so many things that can go wrong here…_

"What if she gets stuck that way?" she turned to Carlisle.

"Rosalie is prepared to accept those consequences. She may even look forward to the opportunity," Carlisle replied simply. "Bella, rest assured, this decision was not made lightly. I have been discussing this with the family almost since it happened, and Rosalie knows what she is getting into. I only ask that you give the choice as much consideration, but believe me when I say you will not be to blame for anything that happens. I just think it prudent we know the full extent of the mechanism you hold dormant in your bite. Not knowing what you're capable of seems much more dangerous than knowing to me."

Bella closed her eyes and rubbed at her forehead unsurely. She waffled back and forth as she contemplated it, opening her eyes to gaze over at Rosalie, who stared passively back, golden eyes glinting coolly in the light.

_So she wouldn't even care if she got stuck being human…She probably actually wants to do this more than anyone else. Funny, I would have pinned her for the total opposite. Who would have thought Rosalie would be the one who'd want to be weaker and less pretty, basically inferior in every way? What's her angle, here? Well…If she doesn't mind, I guess I don't…I just don't want to hurt her. I may not like her, but still…Carlisle can say what he wants, it's my choice, and if I choose to do it, the responsibility is on my shoulders…But I also really want to know what is up with my mouth doing that shit to Alice…_

Bella struggled to decide and wished they had not asked her to do it so soon because she did not have really any time to think about it. Yet like Rosalie said, there was nothing else for it. Carlisle worked too much for them to find opportunities like this for Bella to bite anyone in a controlled setting, and she realized then why Jasper and Emmett had dipped out for the weekend. Neither boy had very secure control, though Jasper's was notably weaker. If anything went wrong, only Esme, Carlisle, and Alice had the ability to get it back under control.

Carlisle sure was one sneaky son of a bitch, she noted, eyeing him warily out of the corner of her eye. He had planned this well, and if Alice was telling the truth, Bella surmised that he had done it so that she would be put on the spot and have to make a snap decision under their pressure.

What was he playing at?

Unable to decide, Bella looked as she always did to Alice for help, and when the pixie stoically met her eyes, she saw something there that seemed to push her into saying _yes_. Whether it was in the steadiness of her gaze or the way she tilted her head down slightly, she did not know.

…Whatever it was, it worked. Bella caved under the pressure and shrugged her shoulders with more apathy than she really felt.

"Okay, if this is what you think is best," she agreed reluctantly, not knowing what else to do.

Say no was one option, probably the smart one, but she could literally feel everyone in the room sending out mental frequencies all tuned to the sound of _Yes_. Carlisle beamed at her and Rosalie made an indiscernible noise as Alice gave her an equally indiscernible smile.

Well, one good thing she knew she would be taking from this was being distracted from how weird Alice was being after their almost kiss, which pretty much made it worth it. (She did not even notice how she had not thought about being outed to her classmates even once in the past hour.)

"Great," Carlisle clapped his hands together and motioned to Rosalie. "If you would, Bella. I don't mean to rush you, but the hospital is in great need of me tonight and I have to go soon. I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible."

Dragging her feet, Bella walked over to Rosalie and her stomach writhed at the listless look she received, Rosalie's haughty face regarding her almost as if she were not even there. Carlisle moved to Rosalie's right as the blond slid into the actual seat of the love seat, and wordlessly she laid her arms across the arms of the plush chair. Esme and Carlisle immediately placed their hands on them and pinned them there, which made Bella extremely uneasy.

Carlisle noticed.

"It's alright, Bella. It's just a precaution. We won't let anything get out of hand," he promised but she still had the urge to back out while she still could.

"It's okay, Bells. Go ahead. Rose isn't the one biting this time, you are. You should really dig your teeth in. You've got quite the PSI in those jaws. I'm sure you won't hurt her, but even if you do…" Alice was standing next to her, and she smiled her own too sweet smile when Rosalie scowled at her.

"Alice, when is Jasper coming home again? Maybe this time when you try and play pet the kitty with Bella, he can join in," Rosalie replied and Bella blanched for Alice at that.

The pixie didn't make a sound, but her face did go impossibly cold. So much for being distracted about that confusing as fuck almost kiss.

"Girls," Esme warned, and Bella decided that Alice was right.

Fucking fine, Rosalie wanted to be the one getting bitten?

Then Bella would _bite_ her. Hard.

"Do I just…Go for it?" she gestured at Rosalie's neck and grew irritable at the way Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"Yes," Carlisle nodded. "I'm going to ask you to bite her three times, five seconds each, Bella. Two stretched out over a week was enough to make Alice have starkly human qualities, and I believe three in quick succession should be sufficient to reveal the true nature of your bite. Preferably on her shoulders, so that the marks can be hidden."

_Three times? Nobody said anything about biting her more than once!_ Bella blushed, but Rosalie huffed impatiently.

"Will you hurry up? We may live forever, but you're making it really boring to do so," she taunted.

Irate now at how relentlessly and unfathomably bitchy Rosalie was, Bella scowled at her, and before she could hesitate and back out like a chicken, she leaned in. She did so quickly, because going slow would make it even more awkward knowing Rosalie. She halted an inch away from the length of her gracefully sloping shoulders, inhaling the lovely scent of pine and sunshine. How Rosalie could smell so warm and cold at the same time was confusing, but she chose not to dwell on that.

She did smell good, despite her bitchy personality, but Bella had had quite enough of the vampire being so shitty to both her and Alice, and so without warning, she took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and bit the fuck out of her.

"Easy, you brat!" Rosalie hissed as Bella's teeth sank into the middle of the fleshy part of her shoulder, digging in cruelly. Her shoulder dipped down ever so slightly, but otherwise she stayed stone still, the way Alice had reacted the second time Bella had bitten her.

_That's what she gets for being a cunt_, she thought, but her tongue brushed skin and then all she could taste was crisp apples and fresh coconut. She salivated without meaning to at the taste, but her head count reached five and she drew back quickly.

"Bite me that hard again and I might bite you back," Rosalie threatened, but Esme pinched her arm and she fell silent.

Bella was starting to feel a little dizzy, and she wasn't sure why. She could feel pheromones emanating from everyone in the room, but they were all at a low level. She could not quite place her issue, so she hurriedly picked a spot an inch to the right of the first one, and bit down again, refusing to think about how ludicrous this all was.

She bit down softer that time, mindful of Rosalie's warning, continued to ignore how good she smelled and tasted, and after she reached five, pulled back again.

"Good, Bella," Carlisle said. "One more and we're done."

_This isn't as bad as I thought it would be_, she mused.

"I don't see why you made such a big deal about it," Rosalie said to Alice, rolling her shoulder once before settling it back into position.

"The circumstances are a little different," Alice snapped back from somewhere behind Bella.

"Sorry, I forgot I'm not as close to sweet Bella as you are," Rosalie sneered, and Esme barked at her again.

"Rosalie, _knock it off_. You are being insufferable," she chastised, and Rosalie heeded her mother's warning again, though she still looked at Bella like a cockroach.

She always did that though, so it was losing some of its effect.

The effect of her scent and pheromones, however, seemed to be getting decidedly worse. She was starting to get a phenomenally bad feeling about all of this, but voicing that feeling now would be useless. Bella swallowed uncomfortably and lowered her mouth back to Rosalie's exposed shoulder, for some reason embarrassed by the two rings of angry red teeth imprints she had already left.

She felt bad for a brief instant, seeing them there, and so before she bit down this time she asked Rosalie, "Ready?"

"_Yes_," Rosalie snarled. "Hurry up."

Well.

Fine then.

She should have known better than to be considerate of the girl, and so she just leaned forward and did it. She bit Rosalie for the third and last time, teeth scraping icy cold skin. Rosalie shivered but did not otherwise react, and when Bella counted to five and pulled away, it was over.

"That was great, Bella," Carlisle praised her, but he and Esme did not let go of the blond when she straightened back up, wiping her mouth awkwardly.

She wondered vaguely if they felt the way the air had thickened. Alice moved around her and stood next to Esme, watching Rosalie with wary eyes. Rosalie stared at her with an eyebrow cocked and her shoulder lined with three rugged bite marks that still made Bella feel uncomfortable.

"Enjoy yourself?" Rosalie hummed.

"About as much as I would drinking rotten milk," Bella retorted, having lost her patience and becoming increasingly aware of the way the air she was breathing was starting to taste a little sweeter with every breath…Like pine trees and sunshine, like apples and coconut…

Seriously, were they noticing that at all? Rosalie's pheromones were getting stronger, and Bella had to pick absentmindedly at her nails to distract herself from them.

"I don't feel any different," Rosalie ignored her and spoke to her adoptive parents, who still held her arms securely to the love seat. "My shoulder is throbbing, but that's it."

"It can take a minute to kick in," Alice said and Rosalie rolled her eyes arrogantly, but thankfully did not let out yet another stinging insult.

One day, Bella was going to get up the nerve to ask Rosalie why she hated her so much. She was certain she would rather know the answer to that at this point than the meaning of the existence of life on earth.

"Alice is right. We've got to make sure nothing goes wrong," Carlisle told her, and so they sat…Waiting.

Bella wasn't waiting for anything. She could already feel it, but she figured it must not be that big of a deal if no one else was saying anything. Her nervous system twittered nervously as more pheromones pumped in, all feeling distinctly of Rosalie.

This was fucking awkward.

Feeling Rosalie of all people swirl inside her like that was making her decidedly uneasy.

About a minute and a half later of tense silence where Rosalie looked superior and unaffected compared to all their anxious, curious faces, something finally happened.

"Look at her eyes!" Esme gasped and Alice let out a low whistle.

"Wow," Bella breathed as she followed their line of sight and saw the cause for the excitement.

Because Rosalie Lillian Hale's eyes had transformed from a stark gold to a brilliant shade of hazel.

As Alice's eyes had gone blue, Rosalie's eyes had gone a lovely blend of green and caramel.

"What?" Rosalie frowned, squinting said eyes.

"Your eyes changed color like Alice's did," Carlisle said, examining them closely.

"Oh," Rosalie said, unsquinting them, but making no further comment. She was taking this all very well.

"That happened a lot faster than mine did," Alice declared, staring at her adopted sister in contemplation.

"That it did," Carlisle replied. "It would seem more bites in faster time enact the effect quicker…And the bite clearly works on others as well…"

That, however, was the only exciting thing that happened in the next five minutes, where they all watched Rosalie closely, awaiting something, anything to happen, awaited her to have the vicious reaction Alice did.

All that happened is that Bella's stomach met up with her feet in a puddle because the pheromones Rosalie was emitting continued to increase in volume, and she found herself holding her breath for unusually long periods of time. It was worsening her bad feeling.

Seriously, why was no one saying anything about that? Did they really not notice, or did they just not care?

"Okay, this is getting kind of ridiculous. I feel fine. I'm not going to pull an Alice and go for her jugular or anything, so can you guys please let me go?" Rosalie complained after the long period of silence.

Bella thought that to be a distinctly stupid idea, but Carlisle, Esme, and Alice all shared a long look, silently communicating about it.

"Well…" Esme hesitated. "She sounds fine, at least…"

Alice made a noncommittal noise, and Carlisle gazed at his blonde daughter.

"Do you feel in control, Rosalie? Be honest," he asked her seriously.

"Completely," she grumbled back.

"You don't feel agitated, or hungry?"

"Nope. I hunted tonight like you told me to. I'm fine," she huffed. "Can you please let me up, Carlisle? _Pretty_ please?"

Slowly, ever so slowly, Esme and Carlisle drew their hands back, and Bella flinched when Rosalie automatically rolled both of her shoulders, grumbling about how dramatic they were all being.

"Seriously, stop looking at me like I'm a time bomb. I feel fine, nothing even happened besides my eyes changing color. Whoopty fucking doo, I still feel like a vampire, not a hum-"

Rosalie's rant suddenly cut off as her face spasmed. She made a noise of pain and one hand came up to the shoulder Bella had bitten, grasping at the afflicted area. She hunched over as Esme gasped in concern and put a hand on her back.

"Rose? _Rose_?" Carlisle called out to her, but Rosalie yelped and fell to her knees on the floor, body curling up in what seemed to be agony.

Bella's bad feeling blasted through the roof and warning sirens flooded her head, but it was overridden by the terror that filled her.

_Oh shit, oh no!_ she thought, one hand going to her mouth as Alice crouched by her sister, their squabbling immediately forgotten in her worry for her adopted sister. _No, no, no…I've killed her, oh god, I've killed Rosalie!_

But she hadn't, because when Rosalie's head lifted up just enough for those wicked hazel eyes to lock onto Bella's across the room and her upper lip curled back to reveal fangs as sharp as they day she'd grown them, she was all too _alive_.

She was even _more_ alive, however, when she lit up off the floor and shot across the room before anyone could stop her with an unreal speed even for a vampire, grabbed Bella's face in her hands, and kissed her.

* * *

_**Longest chapter yet, phew. Hope you guys meant it when you said you liked them, lol. I rewrote this one repeatedly, but I like it best this way. Rest assured, everything that is happening is happening for a reason. It's not random, I promise. Everything will be explained in due time. Why the Cullens are being kinda shady has an explanation. A lot of you were wondering how Rosalie and Bella would interact considering Rose's canon story and the way she treats her in this story, and that will all be delved into next chapter. **_

_**Also, in my head, Alice's visions are only applicable to see people's decisions about what they will do in the future, and if even they don't know what they're about to do (like in the book) she can't see what will happen. That's why she didn't see Rose losing it. She also can't see the future when she's paying more attention to how cute Bella is when she's spluttering ;)**_

_**Anyway, these almost kisses are killing me. I forgot how much I loved this pairing, and now I just want Bellice together so badly. I'm as anxious to write it as you guys probably are to read it lol. Every song I listen to reminds me of them. Sigh...**_


	10. Chapter 10

Bella did not have time to think or react. Rosalie's lips smashed against hers so hard she felt her teeth take the impact. She gave a muffled yelp, eyes wider than wide as everything about the blonde became a palpable sensation in the air. Like Victoria had done in the car, Rosalie unwittingly poured her very being into Bella with her touch, and pheromones made her knees buckle so hard that she almost hit the floor.

Rosalie solved that problem, by grabbing Bella's ass in both hands and yanking her back up with so much force and strength that she cried out against the lips smothering hers as her feet left the floor.

Bella found that to be completely and unnecessarily erotic. Not consciously of course, all her conscious thoughts were composed of swearing and a mindless drone of panic.

Subconsciously though, her body was elated.

Rosalie growled against her parted lips, and then a tongue was in her mouth, tasting of apples and winter as the blonde surged forward, staggering them backward with vampiric speed that turned the world into a smear around her, kissing her and holding Bella so close to her body that all she could feel was the softness of her breasts and the hands gripping her ass painfully, deliciously tight. Rosalie only stopped plowing forward when Bella's back smacked brutally into the kitchen bar, having reached a dead end, which made Bella arch and groan in distress.

All of this happened in the span of about three seconds.

Suffice it to say that Bella was sufficiently brain dead and close to passing out as Rosalie heaved her onto the counter, grabbed her by the hair, and cranked her head back harshly, fully exposing the expanse of her throat, which bobbed tantalizingly at the vampire with Bella's desperate swallowing.

"Rose! _Rosalie_!" Was that Esme or Carlisle? Bella could not tell. Her senses were attuned only to the vampire all over her.

_My god_, she wondered, hands clutching at Rosalie's shoulders as her whole body shuddered wickedly. Bella's eyes were still open as wide as they could go, and she watched as Rosalie opened her mouth and let out a hiss akin to the warning of a coiled cobra. Her fangs extended, glistening, and even the outpouring of arousal she had forced upon Bella could not distort the unbridled terror that filled her at the sight of Rosalie posturing like that over her.

"Rosalie!" Bella yelled hysterically. "_Stop_!"

Yelling stop right then was kind of like when a police officer yells at a fleeing suspect. Pointless, because they obviously wouldn't.

And yet.

Rosalie froze, her mouth open wide and eyes locked on where Bella was sure her blood pumped the strongest. Her eyes were glazed, but at Bella's exclamation, she blinked once, twice, then rapidly, and they seemed to clear. She closed her mouth and furrowed her brow, opened it again, and then looked directly into Bella's eyes. Rosalie had returned to herself, just like that.

"Shit," she deadpanned and pursed her lips.

Alice appeared behind her in a whirl of rage, grabbed her by the waist, and flung her back so hard that she soared across the room and into Carlisle and Esme's arms. Bella collapsed on the kitchen bar that looked out into the living room which Alice had carelessly thrown her sister into. Her skin buzzed, and for a hysterical moment all she could think about were the Five gum commercials where people lay on millions of little metal balls that vibrated their whole bodies. She was gasping for air, lungs heavy with Rosalie's pheromones, and she cowered when Alice turned back to her with hard eyes that were very nearly black.

_That did not just happen_, was the first conscious thought her brain was capable of producing. _That did _not_ just happen. _

"Bella, it's okay, sweetie. Come here. Oh god, I'm so sorry, we thought she was okay-" Alice murmured and gently but firmly grabbed her by the wrists and hauled her off the counter. Alice steadied her when she damn near collapsed, shaking violently.

"Alice!" Esme shouted as they barely caught the blond. Rosalie staggered with them with a furious bout of swearing.

"You little shit! I was in control!" Rosalie snarled, though in a completely human sort of way.

Bella looked up at her, Alice's arms around her. Rosalie was struggling in her adoptive parents' arms, but they held her still as easily as if she were a small child. Even as Bella watched, Rosalie's skin seemed to be gaining some sort of glow, some _color_, losing the pale porcelain look. Yet her hair was wild, stray strands flying from her ponytail in a genuinely messy way instead of the deliberately ruffled look vampires usually had when they were mussed up. She gasped for air that she suddenly actually needed, and she trembled, but true to her nature, she remained incredibly pissed despite all the changes occurring in her body. The ragged bite marks littering her shoulder were an ugly, prominent red, and Bella saw a vein straining in the side of her neck.

Obviously, her bites were doing their job. Unfortunately, a side effect of that job had been to spur into kissing Bella, which made no sense what-so-fucking-ever.

"You call that in _control_?" Alice shouted furiously. "Acting like you're oh so perfect while you were a second away from ripping out her throat?"

"Alice-Rosalie-" Carlisle tried to interject, but it was fruitless.

"Fuck you!" Rosalie exploded, and jerked her arms so angrily that even though her strength seemed to have waned, her parents still released her. "I was _fine_, unlike you. At least I stopped myself, you sure as hell didn't. Remember those bruises she wore for a week after you got done with her? Or were those hickeys from all the times you guys 'hung out' together?"

Alice's growl reverberated in Bella's ear drums and she flinched, but Alice let go of her so fast she almost fell to the floor. She managed to keep her balance by flailing for the counter behind her and clinging to it like a lifeline, still weak from Rosalie's assault.

It would be nice if Rosalie could stop with her attack on the true nature of her friendship with Alice, too. She was starting to really give Bella a headache.

"Keep it up, Rosalie-I _swear_-" Alice rumbled, but Rosalie gave a derisive scoff.

"Oh, you can dish it out, but you can't take it?" she snapped haughtily, though her hand came up to her shoulder, brushing at the bite marks. "Isn't that just like you, acting like you're so much better than everyone else. _You're_ the one that almost killed her-"

"God, don't even pull that superior tone with me, you bitch! You were the one about to sink your fangs into her throat!" Alice burst out and stormed into the living room to go a foot away from a sneering Rosalie. Bella found the insult sounded wrong coming out of Alice's mouth, but the girl wasn't done. "Wasn't it you giving her so much crap for liking girls, claiming she wanted you and then you jump her like a bitch in heat? Oh, that's rich, isn't it. Who's acting out Sapphic fantasies now?"

Rosalie slapped her.

Hard.

Right across the mouth.

The crack of it rang out in the room uncomfortably loudly. Alice tensed so hard that Bella stood up straight, spine painfully erect in anxiety. Esme gasped and moved between them while Carlisle barked at Rosalie in a fatherly tone Bella had never heard from him before.

"Rosalie Lillian Hale!" he reprimanded

Bella found both of their accusations to be entirely unfair. Alice was judging Rosalie for doing the same thing she had done when bitten, and Rosalie was…Well, being Rosalie.

However, Alice only worked a muscle in her jaw, and they stared each other down over Esme's shoulder, Alice seething, Rosalie glaring back fearlessly. They were nose to nose, Alice standing impossibly still with a face so cold it was giving Bella chills from across the room. Bella was sure if Rosalie was not to the point where Alice hitting her would likely kill her in one blow that they would be physically fighting. She was unbelievably grateful that they weren't, because vampire fights were sure to be very violent, and very messy.

"What's the matter, Alice?" Rosalie murmured in a soft voice screaming of mockery. "Jealous? Did seeing someone touch your precious Bella make you mad? Need to lay down the law, make sure everyone knows she's yours?"

"You know _what_, Rosalie-"

Esme had enough, and before Alice could get out whatever scathing response every single one of them could hear at the back of her bristling, enraged tone, she pushed them apart.

"_Enough_!" she yelled. "Stop it, right _now_. _Both_ of you. Alice, go take care of Bella and start acting like a proper friend and not a _child_. Rosalie, one more word out of you and you're going to get a taste of what you just gave Alice, little girl. Don't push me, I don't care if you are a hundred and thirteen and almost human right now, I will bend you over my knee faster than you can say another awful thing!"

Rosalie looked fully scandalized and mortified at her mother at the thought of being _spanked_, but she kept her mouth locked shut as Alice scowled and whirled on her toes, eyes black and furious. She blurred over to a stunned stupid Bella, making her blanch in surprise.

"Come on," she muttered and grabbed Bella by the arm, immediately beginning to drag her away from the scene they'd made.

Bella did not get much of a choice but to follow. Her grip was almost too tight and Bella stumbled to keep up with her as Carlisle and Esme went off on Rosalie behind them, the sound of the girl's protesting voice echoing. Alice pulled her all the way to the staircase and up it, down the hallway, into her room, and kicked the door shut behind her.

By this time, Bella was utterly fed up with being dragged like a dog on a leash, and her legs were seconds away from giving out.

"Will you _stop_ it?" she snapped, yanking her arm out of Alice's grip. Alice came to an abrupt halt and turned back around to face her with eyes that were as wild as Bella had seen them in a long time. It was a peculiar sort of wild and it made her hesitate; it was not that Alice wasn't in control of herself physically. She was not showing signs of going vampire mode or anything, but the emotion in her swirling eyes seemed to be a hurricane, and when she stared into Bella the brunette could feel that gaze claw at her with some unknown force.

"Alice, calm _down_," she mumbled, rubbing at her wrist where Alice had grabbed her and trying to get herself together. She had barely been given a reprieve from Rosalie's pheromones before she had been forcefully drug all the way up here and made to use her shaky legs, and now Alice was looking at her like _that_…

At her plea, though, Alice seemed to shake out of it. She took a heavy breath and sighed deeply.

"I-I am calm. I'm sorry, Bella. It was wrong of me to behave that way. She just makes me so _mad_-and she almost _bit_ you…I should have moved faster. But I've never seen Rosalie move that quickly…Then again, she's always been an explosive kind of person…Are you okay?" Alice inquired with concern, but Bella shrugged and stuck her hands into her jacket pockets unsurely, standing in the middle of Alice's room.

This was not how she had seen this night going.

She had been putting off stressing about going back to school Monday (Charlie wasn't buying her fake cough over the phone) especially since Alice would not be there to support her through the immediate fall out, and now this had happened.

Her belly was still knotted with arousal, and the way Alice had looked at her had not helped. She found it unnerving that she could not read her friend when she usually always could, and when her nerves were already so shot from practically being mounted by someone who hated her, who moments before she thought she had killed, it was hard to keep calm.

_What am I doing with my life? _She wondered.

"Yeah, I guess. Don't worry about it, I don't think any of us saw that one coming…Shit, did Rosalie just _kiss_ me?" Bella realized how absurd the mere notion was, especially considering the fact that it had actually happened.

The thought did not gross her out as much as it probably should have. Damned lesbianism or bisexualism or whatever the fuck affecting her desires so cruelly as to make her actually _not_ disgusted at the thought of locking lips with Rosalie of all people.

Her body was anything but disgusted if the way it kept thrumming were any indication, and Alice only scowled and looked away from her.

She had been scowling far too much lately. But then of course, it was completely justified. Things had been pretty hectic, and though the past few days had been great, they had come full circle back to what had jarred them in the first place.

Bella was starting to think she should have just said no. She hated to see Alice anything but joyful.

"Yes. I really am sorry Bella. You could have been really hurt. I swear I would never have let her get her teeth in you, though. She caught me off guard but I was already moving to get my arm between her mouth and your throat. I would have been there even faster, but the last thing I expected was for her to _kiss_ you-God, honey, I'm so sorry," Alice apologized again, ever ashamed of herself for anything that put Bella in harm's way whether it was her fault or not.

And as always, Bella refused to let her take any of the blame on herself. It wasn't her fault anyway.

"It's fine," she shook her head, even though it wasn't really. Her insides were still pumped up on pheromones, and Bella found it hard to meet Alice's eyes when she felt like this because her growing appreciation for her best friend's looks was getting a little out of hand at this point.

"It's not," Alice groaned and put one hand to her forehead, expression twisting into one of anguish.

"Alice-"

"It's _not_, Bella. This is the second time you've come _this_ close to being bitten-maybe the third because I never know what the hell Victoria's going to do, and I just-I'm being a really shitty friend because I'm keeping stuff from you that you deserve to know, and I keep almost getting you killed, and that honestly terrifies me, because I hate to see you hurt because you're my best friend and I just-" Alice ranted, but Bella made a face at her in concern.

"Alice, hey, slow down. Alice, look at me. _Breathe_," she said, startled by the outburst. She would have put a hand on Alice's shoulder, but yeah, the whole Rosalie thing still hadn't worn off.

Alice shut her mouth and pursed her lips, staring at Bella with shining eyes.

_Is she crying?_ Bella winced. _Why are her eyes getting watery? _Alice crying was one step above kicked puppies for Bella on the heartbreaking scale, and sometimes when her face got all hurt or upset it was even beneath it.

"Hey, where is this coming from, Alice? Talk to me," she prodded, worry in her voice. She ducked her head to properly gaze at the vampire, who shrugged and folded her arms.

"I don't know," Alice mumbled. "We never should have done this. I should have told Carlisle to drop it the moment he brought it up," she lamented unhappily and Bella did not get the chance to scoff at her for thinking so stupidly because there came a knock at the door and the sound of voices arguing.

"Esme, stop it, I'm not going to yell at them or anything. No-Will you stop _looking_ at me like that?"

It was Rosalie's voice on the other side of the door, and Alice's reaction was immediate.

"Get back," she ordered, and Bella frowned at the tone of it.

That was a little _bossy_. She appreciated the gravity of the situation, but still.

"Bella," she insisted, softening her voice pleadingly, and Bella warily made her way over to the bed and restlessly plopped down on it, folding her arms around her middle and watching Alice uncertainly, who blurred over to the door. She hesitated with her hand on the doorknob, and when she turned it, she barely opened the door a crack.

Was this really that big of a deal? Her libido said yes, but precedent had suggested Rosalie physically losing it was not out of the question. The kiss had been a freaking blindside more than anything else, especially because unlike with Alice it had been unprovoked on Bella's end (not to mention they didn't even like each other and for what Bella knew Rosalie was totally straight) but it had all sorta worked out okay. Bella was more than curious to know what the hell was up with her mouth now, doing that to even Rosalie…

Bella jumped when the image of the blond appeared in the tiny gap. She glanced at Alice in panic, but the vampire just stared her sister down.

"Open up, I promise I'm not going to bite this time. Scout's honor," Rosalie groused and Bella winced at the bad tasting joke.

Uh, no thank you.

She was definitely not interested in talking to Rosalie after that little fiasco, or ever again, for that matter. The stinging ripostes she would undoubtedly have ready on her vicious tongue did not interest Bella in the slightest.

Alice only stared, and Bella heard Esme say faintly, "Alice, it's okay."

Grumbling, she let go of her death grip on the door, and Rosalie immediately barged in, rolling her eyes.

Oh thanks, Alice.

Why did she not simply slam the door shut and to hell with whatever Rosalie could possibly want?

Bella watched Rosalie enter with the trepidation of a prisoner sentenced to death, Esme hovering less than a foot behind her adopted daughter, and flinched when Rosalie stormed right over to her. Her hazel eyes glinted prettily in the light of Alice's room and _Sonofabitch_!

She stood up fast, legs quivering and light headed as blood rushed to her skull, but Rosalie's proximity cleared more than five feet between them and she staggered back, nearly falling flat back on the bed as the air surged, smelling and tasting of apples, pine trees and sunshine. Alice appeared at her side in a split second and an arm slung around her waist, keeping her upright, but barely.

She knew the movement was meant to be comforting, but at this rate, it only made things worse. She could feel every single one of Alice's individual fingers clinging to her right hip.

"That's close enough!" she barked, and Rosalie halted, her lips tightening.

"Rosalie!" Carlisle's voice called out. Apparently he was up here too, and Bella had to glue herself to Alice's side to keep on her feet despite her issues with being close to the vampire, or any vampire at this point. Rosalie backed up a pace, grimacing, but continued to peer at them with her usual haughty expression. Carlisle swiftly walked right up next to his daughter and then both he and his wife gripped either of her arms, which only made the blonde's mouth thin out even further.

She could seethe about it all she wanted. If Carlisle and Esme let go of her again, mistakenly believing her to be in control, she was going out the window.

Fuck that.

Her body could love it all she wanted. She wasn't locking lips with Rosalie again, so help her god. That was more mortifying than almost being bitten by her.

"Sorry, sorry," Rosalie grunted, and even in her haze Bella could see her face was flushed, something vampire faces were incapable of. The color was disconcerting on a usually colorless face. "I forgot, sorry. Chill the fuck out, Swan."

Easy for her to say. Bella's thighs were squeezed so tightly that it was a wonder nobody could see them flexing.

Was she even breathing air anymore, or was that all Rosalie? It was entirely unnerving how good Alice felt pressed to her side…

"What do you want, Rosalie?" Alice's voice was strained, barely civil.

Rosalie gave her the evil eye briefly before rolling them when Esme made a noise beside her, indicating she hurry up. "Look…" she started, sounding gruff. She cleared her throat, gave a bitter laugh that sounded anything but amused, and then looked directly at Bella.

Not helping. Rosalie was still too close, and all Bella could think of was how it had felt to kiss her, how Rosalie's plush lips had felt against her own, and the way she had grabbed for her ass like a woman possessed.

And how the weight of Alice's arm felt slung around her waist…

"I just came up here to say-" Rosalie choked up as if the words had caught in her throat, then growled. "I just came to say I'm _sorry_," she practically spat out.

Stunned, Bella straightened a little, and Alice's arm tightened protectively around her.

Not.

Helping.

Alice.

But no, seriously. She had to be joking, setting them up for an inevitably devious pun designed to make them feel awful.

"I didn't mean to jump your bones like that, Swan, even though I'm pretty sure you liked it anyway. And sorry for scaring you or whatever. Seriously. I thought I had it under control, and I didn't," Rosalie muttered, every word coming out like someone was trying to pull her teeth as she said it.

Did really Rosalie just…_Apologize_?

_Hold the phone_. Bella glanced at Alice, not even registering their closeness in her shock. Alice looked as surprised as Bella felt, eyebrows high. Bella looked at Esme, who was looking at her daughter with blatant disbelief. Even Carlisle was blinking uncertainly.

"Those bites sure are wicked, Swan. So sorry to you too, I guess, half pint. I guess I forgot how good she smelled, and I never knew it would feel like that. And hell, who knew even _I_ could be tempted by you, Swan?" Rosalie rolled her eyes slowly, still too close for comfort though she did not realize it. "So yeah. Sorry and whatever. That was all. Bye," Rosalie finished her _apology_, sounding beyond uncomfortable, and with that, she pulled back and Bella watched in honest to god awestruck dumbfoundery as she turned and her parents let her go.

Esme went with her, both just in case Rosalie lost it again (though Bella doubted she would, the bite seemed to have already finished transforming the girl which was what seemed to cause the initial violent behavior) and also because she was eagerly praising her for _apologizing_.

Rosalie had just _apologized_.

What was the world coming to? Why would she ever do a thing like that?

Carlisle stayed behind, and he gave Bella a tentative smile.

"Isabella, I apologize as well, completely for the behavior of _both_ my daughters," he said pointedly, to which Alice bristled. Bella subconsciously put a hand on the arm around her waist to keep her calm, without even thinking about it. She felt hot, however, when Carlisle's eyes glanced down at it, and she abruptly took a full step to the right, Alice's arm sliding off of her easily.

Okay.

That was fucking weird.

The point was moot because her whole life was getting really fucking weird, but squirming, Bella gave him a weak smile and feeble nod.

"It's fine. We should have expected something like that. I thought she might get riled up, I just didn't expect to be…Er, kissed," Bella trailed away as she realized Rosalie had just kissed her and groped her in front of both the Cullen parents.

_Oh my god. _

She blushed brightly, but Carlisle just hummed softly.

Awkward, awkward, awkward. This was completely fricking awkward.

"I did not expect that either. I don't think any of us did, and that was why Alice did not see it coming," he replied. "It appears your bite may also stir sexual arousal and that is a very peculiar thing indeed...Perhaps Alice may have been provoked to such a reaction whether or not her pheromones provoked you first. Anyway, you've given me a lot to think about and study Bella, and I will be getting back to you once I know more. I'm so very grateful that you took this risk for us when you did not have to. I'm sorry you were almost hurt, but rest assured, none of us would have let her bite you. I believe Alice was fully capable of getting in the way first."

Alice was shifting on her feet and Carlisle noticed. They shared a long suffering look that Bella had no idea how to take, and finally Carlisle faced her again.

"Bella, forgive me, but would you terribly mind staying up in Alice's room for the rest of the night? I hope you are not distrustful of our ability to keep you safe anymore, as Rosalie catching us off guard was a one time thing, guaranteed, but still. I would like to run some medical tests on her and I do not want to take the chance that something should happen. It would be best for you to be safe and tucked away rather than us having to get you out of harm's way should harm arise," Carlisle politely suggested in a way that wasn't really suggesting.

Bella could take a hint just fine and had no desire to argue with him anyway. She had done her part in biting Rosalie and was already pretty much regretting it considering the consequences (her lips still felt bruised and swollen).

"Um…Yeah, sure. No problem," she shrugged, and he inclined his head towards her in acknowledgment.

"Alice, will you please accompany me downstairs? I require your assistance on a few matters and there are some things I wish to discuss with you privately as well," Carlisle asked.

Alice nodded and said, "Of course, Carlisle. I'll be down in a minute."

Carlisle gave Bella one last gentle smile and then exited the room, walking swiftly but at a human pace.

"Bella…" Alice immediately began once he was gone and the brunette cut her off.

"Alice, stop. I'm fine. She didn't bite me. I think I'm scarred for life over being kissed by _Rosalie_, but it's no big deal. She even _apologized_, which I will never understand. You're not an awful friend. None of this has been your fault, and I don't blame you at all. You're the best friend I've got, ever had really, and I wish you wouldn't be so hard on yourself," Bella said and all the fight went out of Alice instantly at her reassuring words.

Alice's eyes were still the color of night and they gazed at her with more of that unreadable, swirling emotion that Bella could not place.

"Okay. I'm sorry anyway, but okay," she mumbled.

"Alice?" Carlisle's voice called up to them and the vampire glanced at the door.

"I'm coming!" she called back and turned back to Bella. "I guess I gotta go. Look, we'll talk later okay? You should try and get some sleep in the meantime. It's getting pretty late, and you've got school tomorrow," she added.

Well _shit_.

She had completely forgotten that.

"Yeah, okay. And seriously, don't beat yourself up anymore or anything," Bella said firmly, smothering her dread over school, which would only get her even more worked up when she was still trying to calm down. Alice looked at her then with that odd expression on her face, and then smiled in a way that did not quite reach her eyes.

"I'll try. See you later. I shouldn't be gone too long," Alice muttered, and then darted for the door before Bella could even say, "Later."

Bewildered at her behavior, and everything else that had occurred in the past month, she finally just sighed and dropped her head into her hands, resolving not to think about any of it at the present moment. She could already feel the headache pressing into the back of her frazzled mind, so she busied herself changing into her pajamas-a black short sleeved t-shirt and dark blue short shorts. She crawled into Alice's bed after, and felt no shame when she plopped her face into one of the vampire's pillows, and the girl's soothing scent wafted up around her.

_This is insane_, she thought, face down in Alice's aroma. _How does she expect me to sleep after that?_

She spent a few minutes trying to sort everything through in her brain to calm the storm in it, but none of it helped. Eventually it got to the point where she could only replay the kiss with Rosalie over and over in her head like some nightmarish video tape, remembering how good her tongue had felt and tasted in her mouth, and when that started an ache up again between her thighs, the tape switched to memories of kissing Alice, and almost kissing Alice and-

_Fuck, I hate being gay!_ She thought angrily and banished the images by flooding her brain with fluffy white sheep jumping fences.

Like she was ever going to sleep now.

She throbbed wetly, uncomfortably at the apex of her thighs, and she could not bear to think about any of it anymore. She lay awake, wired, for what must have been two hours, getting more and more anxious as the time crawled by.

_First this, now school tomorrow…_

The moonlight was bright as it came through Alice's window. As Bella stayed wide awake and staring up at the pale orb in the sky, miserable and confused and trying not to think about any of it, Alice's clock blinked to 11:30, and the tiny vampire finally came back in.

So much for it not taking too long.

Bella stirred but did not roll over at the quiet sound of the door opening and shutting across the room with a barely audible click. Whisper soft footsteps were the only sign of Alice's approach, and Bella sighed deeply when she felt the bed dip next to her. The scent clinging to Alice's pillow was nowhere as good as the real thing, and Bella was struck with the sudden urge to cry it all out, when that aroma surrounded her.

"You never went to sleep, did you?" Alice whispered.

"Nope," Bella whispered back, and had to close her eyes and bite the inside of her lip when hot tears sprang to them. A cool hand lay across the side of her head facing up and Alice began to absentmindedly stroke her hair. Her chest ached for everything that she was experiencing, but she held in the tears with everything she had.

Alice did not say anything else and neither did she because she was afraid if she opened her mouth again she would start sobbing like an emotionally fragile teenage girl (which she was), but as any emotionally fragile teenage girl would, she melted into the bed at the feeling of Alice's fingers lightly dragging through her locks, the tips brushing her scalp.

After a moment the urge to cry eased and Bella began to lull, sinking further into the mattress. It did not take long for her to relax and drowsiness to overcome her. As she treaded the precipice of sleep and consciousness, emotions and thoughts dying under Alice's petting hand, she heard the vampire murmur something that sounded like "I'm so sorry. I'll make it up to you, Bella, I promise."

And off she went into dreamland, forgetting she had ever even heard Alice say a word.

* * *

Alice drove her to school the next day, getting her out of the house early before anyone else, and she might as well have been driving the car straight to hell for how Bella felt during the whole ride. She did not even have the presence of mind to question Alice about whether or not they had learned anything else after running those tests on Rosalie. It did not help that Alice was unusually silent, that she did not even blast her ridiculous rap music or even really talk or look at Bella at all the whole way.

Bella did not know why Alice was so quiet, but it was making her feel even worse. Her stomach had turned to a puddle of acid, she thought she might puke, and her hands were sweating by the time they pulled into the parking lot. She had finally turned her phone back on this morning after her weekend retreat from her problems that had ended just in time to set her up for going back to school. She had a total of fifteen texts from Angela, Jessica, Eric, and Mike, and eight missed calls.

Looking down at the evidence of her ignoring them, she could only hopelessly delete all the texts without reading them, a sinking feeling pulling her down further. She could not make herself see what they had to say. Undoubtedly they would be disgusted, attacking her, cutting off their friendships. They had proved that enough squealing about Coach Basselor, and Mike and Eric were both regular churchgoers.

Bella tried not to cry.

What she desperately needed was for Alice to comfort her, reassure her, but the pixie did nothing but put the car in park and turn to look at her, not saying a thing. Bella gazed back, waiting for something, anything, for Alice to do what she always did and make everything better, say the magic words that would make it all okay even if she could not be here for Bella today.

"Alice?" she mumbled uncomfortably.

Alice only stared, expressionless. The only emotion Bella could find was in her swirling golden eyes, and even then she did not recognize it.

_Why won't she say something? Why is she looking at me like that?_ Bell agonized, her throat beginning to close.

Bella suddenly couldn't stand it another second. She accepted the fact that Alice genuinely had nothing to say after a whole three minutes of silence as much as it boggled her and hurt her and confused her. She unsnapped her belt buckle and roughly grabbed the door handle, preparing to launch out of the car and speed walk to the school, hoping nobody would recognize her in the parking lot before she could disappear inside. She did not have the ability to fret over whatever was making Alice act like this way. All of her fretting was aimed at this sure to be awful day of school.

"Bella, wait!" Alice exclaimed and Bella tensed, her breath catching.

Oh, now she has something to say?

"What?" she said gruffly, sitting back and sinking down into the seat so her face was not so visible through the window. The parking lot was flooding with students starting to arrive.

"Bella…" Alice murmured and Bella turned to face her, jaw clamped shut and chest aching. Alice put a hand on her shoulder that sent tingles through her even through the fabric of her hoodie, and something about it felt like a red flag.

_She's acting really, really weird. Like weirder than her usual brand of weird. Like _bad_ weird_, Bella thought nervously.

And there was a reason.

"Honey, I've been thinking. Lately we've been spending a lot of time together, and I'm starting to think we might need to…You know, not," Alice said slowly, cautiously, and Bella stiffened. She knew she must have looked wounded almost instantly because Alice hurried on.

"Bells, it's not because I don't want to hang out with you, you know I do, but ever since all this biting stuff started, things have been kind of crazy. And I just think…We might be getting a little too…_Close_…For comfort," Alice continued, her every word twisting a knife into Bella's already unstable heart. She shrugged out from under Alice's hand and faced forward, her stomach dropping.

_What is she talking about? Does she mean…Does she mean what happened in the kitchen? Or maybe she's talking about when she wiped the lipstick off my mouth…God, of course I wasn't the only one who thought it was weird, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal…I didn't think she cared, I thought it was just a fluke or two, not a declaration of love or anything…Shit, does she think I'm into her? Is that why she's being this way? _Am_ I into her?_

"You're the one that asked me to hang out this weekend," Bella reminded her in a small voice, refusing to touch on the more sensitive side of the subject they were on. The car seemed tinier somehow, and the air harder to breathe.

"I know," Alice replied softly. "I know, and I don't think I should have. Things have been weird between us lately, and you know it. Things are…_Different_ now that we both like girls, and I think you need some time to adjust. And with all this stuff going on with your bite too, it's not so good an idea for you to be hanging around vampires so much…"

Alice never was one to pussyfoot around that elephant squishing Bella into the seat. Her chest was so tight she did not think her lungs could inflate anymore.

Why did she have to do this now? Now, when Bella needed her most? Why could it not have waited? Why could they not have dealt with whatever weird air was between them later, after Bella dealt with her forced coming out?

"Okay," was all she could choke out, staring straight ahead through the windshield. Kids were laughing and talking and chattering on obliviously as they walked towards the school, not noticing them at all. Suddenly the fact that she had been outed to all of them did not seem so urgent anymore.

_Alice doesn't want to hang out with me anymore. She probably doesn't even want to be friends anymore. God, why did you have to be such a stupid idiot, Bella, acting like that around her? You were getting a pathetic crush on her and you both know it, and she's too nice to tell you to get lost. _

A quiet voice in the back of her mind reminded her that Alice had acted weirdly towards her too, pinning her to the counter in the kitchen and staring into her eyes in the parking lot, standing so close to her, nearly kissing her, but she wrote it off, figuring she must have imagined it all in a different way than it had really happened in her newfound sexuality like Alice seemed to be suggesting.

It felt like they were dating and Alice had said they take a break, which really meant that it was over. And maybe that was a sign that she was right; they did need to spend some time apart, if this was how Bella felt about a _friend_ saying they needed to spend some time apart. It wasn't necessarily unreasonable, what Alice was suggesting, but it still felt out of the blue.

"Okay. If you think we should stop hanging out, that's fine. Sorry if I was bothering you or anything," Bella said in a strained voice and before she could break down crying, she shoved the car door open and surged out.

It still hurt like a son of a bitch to be told to get lost by her best friend.

"Bella! Bella, _wait_, I didn't say-"

She shut the door as gently as her muscles would allow when wound so tight, and so it slammed, cutting off Alice mid-sentence. She heard the girl get out on the other side, but she was already hurrying off as fast as she could go. She put her head down, hunched her shoulders, with her hands in her pockets, praying no one would see her face. Alice gave her away, god damn it, by calling her name, but she did not stop and did not turn back, and Alice, for once in her life, did not follow her.

And maybe that was what hurt the most; that Alice did not come after her to reassure her that they were still friends and everything would be fine, and made the first few tears fall from her eyes as she stepped into the school to face the fallout of her outing by her goddamned History teacher, completely and utterly…

Alone.

She had never realized just how many people attended this school as she watched them swarming in the hallways, heart pounding. She swiftly wiped her face free of the tears, her anxiety over Alice being once more overtaken.

If she had any doubts before that everyone would know by now, they vanished the instant she began walking down the hall, and the loud background conversation dulled to a hush. Everyone she passed glanced at her, whispered to their friends, hissed behind their hands. Social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and how interconnected everything in Forks was had been her downfall. The few who did not give her a second look were far outnumbered by the ones who did, and she practically bolted to her first period classroom, darting through the doorway as every eye in the world followed her.

And ran smack into Jessica and Angela.

Both girls staggered back as the one who had stumbled into them struggled to catch her balance.

"Who the _F_-"

"Jesus-"

"Shit-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Bella froze, clutching the strap of her backpack tightly in one hand, mouth open.

"Hey, Bella," Angela said, but not in a friendly way.

Bella took a heavy breath at the tone as her Asian friend crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow at her.

Not good.

"Hey, _pal_," Jessica snarked next to her, also crossing her arms.

Really, _really_ not good.

She had not expected to run into them so fast. Great. This was just what she needed.

Bella glanced around the room, seeing it was mostly empty because Alice had brought her so early (only so she could deliver a wicked blow to her already damaged emotional psyche). Ms. Shanty was typing away at her computer, and the only other students in the room were seated at a few random tables, the nerds who always arrived to class early.

"Hi," she swallowed and flinched when the bell rang, signaling all in the school to report to first period.

She yelped, however, when they both lunged forward and grabbed a hold of her when she tried to swoop past them and pretend like this wasn't happening.

"Hey-don't-"

Her protests were useless and Ms. Shanty was too, because she did not even look up when they both hauled her to the back of the classroom and unceremoniously shoved her down onto a seat at the table in front of her and Alice's usual one.

Fear twisted her belly as they both dropped down onto a seat at the table with her, Angela across from her on the opposite side and Jessica right next to her. Why the hell were there so many seats at this table, anyway? There were usually only two, and now there were four. One more was on the wrong side of the table next to Angela, waiting to be occupied.

"What are you guys doing?" Bella hissed anxiously. "You can't both sit here-"

"It's group work today, so we can," Angela informed her in a hard voice and pointed to the board at the front of the classroom behind her, where indeed, Ms. Shanty's terrible handwriting sprawled along the whiteboard and read _Group Work today, four to a group ONLY. We will be dissecting frogs. NO FLINGING OF AND/OR EATING OF BODY PARTS._

"Oh," Bella said meekly, shrinking further when they both glared at her.

They hated her.

They absolutely hated her, and she was about to feel the wrath of their God come down on her head. Surely that was it. Surely she was about to burst out bawling if they said even one mean thing to her, began making fun of her for being gay, anything at all would set her off-

"Why the hell haven't you been answering our calls?" Angela snapped, leaning forward on the table as people began spilling into the classroom.

"Or out texts?" Jessica added angrily under her breath next to her.

_Because I didn't want to experience what I am now?_ She thought helplessly, squirming. Would she look psychotic if she made a break for the door?

Probably.

"Because I was busy?" she tried.

No go.

"Busy what, making out with Alice all weekend?" Jessica hissed at her and Bella blanched, eyes welling up instantly.

There it was.

_And here it comes_, she thought, gritting her teeth and biting hard on her lower lip.

"Jess," Angela growled at her, and Jessica backed off with a huff. "Bella-hey, stop. Don't cry. Damn it, Jessica, see what you did?"

"Are you crying?" Jessica looked alarmed. "Whoa, hey hun, don't do that. I was kidding, I didn't mean-"

Bella sniffled and snapped back, "_No_, I'm not crying." She was, but she wiped away the tears furiously. "Look, if you're both just here to make fun of me, or attack me or whatever, I don't care. If you don't want to be friends anymore that's fine but don't-"

"_What?_" they both gawked simultaneously at her, and she knit her brow back at them.

Why the looks?

"Don't want to be _friends_ anymore? Is _that_ why you haven't been answering your phone?" Angela inquired, sounding dumbfounded.

"Uh," Bella said, straightening at the looks she was receiving. Confusion took the place of hurt and she folded her arms uncertainly around her middle.

"We've been worrying our asses off all weekend over you and _that's_ why you wouldn't even take two seconds to let us know you were okay?" Angela's voice rose but Jessica shh'd her when people looked around at them.

"Yes?" Bella answered unsurely and Jessica scoffed beside her.

"What the _hell_, Bella? Why would you think that? We were _trying_ to make sure you weren't at home committing suicide after you ran out so fast. We even went to your house to check and Charlie told us you were hanging out with _Alice_," Jessica revealed, sounding pissed.

Oh.

Oh, um…Oh.

Huh.

Well.

Bella blinked at them in shock and cocked her head, not quite getting it though surely her ears were not lying to her.

"You were worried about me?" she inquired softly, slowly starting to understand she might have been a _teensy_ bit off point about why they were so angry at her.

"_Yes_," Angela affirmed exasperatedly. "Why do you think we called you so much? What, did you think we hated you or something?"

Yes.

"No," Bella lied, her heart hesitantly lifting.

They didn't hate her? They had cared, had _worried_ over her?

_Really_?

"Did you think we were going to spout bible verses at you or some shit?" Jessica groused.

"No, I just-" Bella stammered as Ms. Shanty stirred, preparing to begin teaching. "I thought…"

"Well, you thought wrong," Angela huffed and sat back, crossing her arms and giving her the stink eye. "Whatever you thought was wrong, because we don't hate you or any dumb shit like that."

Bella never thought she would be so happy to see her friends angry with her, if only because she _was_ so wrong about why they were. Her stomach reappeared where it was supposed to be and her heart dropped out of her throat in delight.

_I was wrong_, she thought, the realization dawning on her face. _I was wrong. Oh my god, I was_ wrong_! _

They weren't mad because she was gay. They were mad because she had ignored them all weekend.

"We barely even understood what happened before you ran off with Alice. She's not your only friend you know. If that's even what you guys are, which we don't care," she added quickly when Angela frowned at her.

"I thought you guys would freak. I mean, aren't you? Freaked out? I'm-I'm-"

Bella couldn't force the word 'gay' out when there were so many people in the room, many of who were whispering much more than normally and watching her too closely.

"I like girls," she finished, then mentally hit herself with a hammer for reminding them of that in case she caused them to have the reaction she had originally been expecting.

"No," Angela replied immediately, looking offended. Jessica shifted and Bella glanced at her uneasily.

"So you do? Like girls?" Jessica asked uncertainly and then scowled at the looks she got from both of them, Bella nervous and Angela reprimanding.

"Yes," Bella answered honestly, though it almost hurt to do so.

"Well, we figured as much by the way you reacted, not to mention that text message," Jessica mumbled. "It was fucked up of Gordon to do that, too. It's whatever though. I mean yeah, it's kinda weird and maybe a little gross, but whatever. I don't care, it's whatever you're into. My aunt's a lesbian too and it never really bothered me before. She's the coolest one out of all of them anyway, she even rides this really sick Harley to all the family reunions. I don't think you're as butch as her though, Bella."

Bella felt affection well up in her at Jessica's awkward ranting, because even though her friend was clearly a little uncomfortable talking about it, she was doing her best in her own way to reassure Bella that she didn't care, and that? That meant more than anything in the world right then.

They didn't care.

Angela winced at Jessica's lack of tact and said, "I think she gets it, Jess. Do you, Bella? Do you get it?"

"Yeah, I think I do," Bella beamed at them both and they both rolled their eyes and grinned playfully at her dopey expression. She couldn't help it.

All that relief zipping through her chest felt too good.

"Thanks for all the faith in us, jerk," Jessica joked and she instantly felt guilty.

They were right to be mad, of course. She should have known better than to assume so much so quickly. She should have at least given them the benefit of the doubt before assuming the worst.

Angela, however, suddenly slapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh my god, no wonder you were so scared!" she gasped. "Dude, I totally forgot we made fun of Coach Basselor right in front of you. Hell, Bella, we never meant-We were only joking-"

"Shit, I forgot that too," Jessica grimaced. "Angela's right, we totally didn't mean anything by it, we were just being stupid."

"It's okay," Bella told them sincerely. She understood what they were trying to say. Thankfully, their jokes about Coach Basselor had been nothing more than teenage immaturity, not genuinely hateful remarks, and Bella knew by the looks on their faces that that was the truth.

"Are you sure? Because-"

"I'm sure," Bella interrupted Angela, still smiling like a dork. "I get it. Really, you guys, I do. You have no idea how much I do."

They both softened and gave her BFF smiles that warmed her heart so much that even when Ms. Shanty barked at them to be quiet so she could teach she did not care.

It didn't last long, though.

As soon as all the dead frogs were passed out, Jessica and Angela began berating her with questions about when she found out (Angela), how much she liked girls, if she was gay or bi, if she had ever checked them out (Jessica), and most unnervingly of all, what was up with her and Alice.

And so she was reminded that even though she had not lost two of her closest friends, she pretty much had lost the one she cherished the most, and wanted to keep above all others.

Alice...

* * *

**_This chapter was one fickle bitch to write. My internet has been sketchy lately too, so I'm just tired of it. I think I'm going to start scaling back the chapters a little more because it's kind of hard to write 10k words every time, and it's starting to mess with my pacing, and it might have also been why this one took a little longer to post. I'm trying to maintain posting in like 3-5 days, so... _**

**_But yeah, anyway, don't worry. All questions will be answered eventually ;) It's kinda frustrating, because I know everything and I feel like every chapter is revealing a tiny bit more leg, so to speak, but always teasing. Like I said though, gotta keep the pace realistic._**


	11. Chapter 11

Angela and Jessica had been pretty supportive after they'd pried most of the truth out of their friend. Bella had tweaked it anyway, saying that yes, she had recently been having some thoughts that she was into girls, but gave a very vague answer as to why. (Hint: Alice, Rosalie, Victoria. No way was she getting into that, though.) She babbled a lot, but Angela and Jessica had just shrugged at her and reassured her they didn't mind, thank God. She told Mike and Eric the same thing with Angela and Jessica right by her side when she did. They both asked if they could watch.

Bella had never heard a lovelier douche-baggy question.

After her female friends smacked her male friends for their lack of tact, they grew serious and told her they did not care either. Mike had seemed uncomfortable with his cross hanging around his neck, but when he told Bella it did not change anything about their friendship, he didn't flinch a bit as he said it. His reasoning was somewhere along the lines of Jesus wanting them to live and let live or whatever, and love people, and that the bible said a lot of things that people didn't follow. (Eric made a jacking off motion behind him when he said that which made everyone laugh. Mike didn't get the joke.)

They also asked about what had happened to Edward, and she gave them the bitter truth about that. He'd left her like trash for his ex, and their reactions had been much like Charlie's, except more violent and less concerned with her consent to the matter.

Basically, castration if they ever saw the jerk again.

It was nice to see their so much of their support.

Whenever they pursued questions of Alice as they were like to do, however, she shut them down or changed the subject.

There was no way to discuss that with them without getting an ache in her heart. Alice had called her twice in the course of the new couple of days and texted her once demanding she pick up her phone, but she didn't. After talking to Emmett once on Monday, she learned Alice had been suspended for each cussword she had aimed at Mr. Gordon, and that added up to three days, not just Monday, and she wouldn't be returning until Thursday.

That only made the ache in her chest worse because it reminded her of Alice sticking up for her, and now she did not even want to hang out with Bella anymore.

So no, she refused to talk about Alice with them.

And god damn it, she did not know why everyone was so determined to believe she and Alice had a thing. Just because they both liked girls now didn't mean they were always secretly together or something. Their suspicions made Bella uncomfortable and embarrassed and hot between the legs if she thought too much about it, and her heart was miserable enough without all that other talk of Alice, so she never let them get too far with that conversation topic.

Yet her friends were still the only thing that made the uproar about her sexuality bearable.

They also began squashing all the wild ideas that began to float around the admittedly dry rumor mill of Forks about Bella's sexuality every chance they got. Angela and Jessica warded off any staring in the hallways with vicious protective female friend glares, but from then on there, the gay jokes had _not_ stopped. Bella supposed she should have expected that from friends that close, where humiliation was as good as crack, but still, the support was appreciated and it was an undeniable relief that her friends didn't seem to care in the slightest.

The only thing she had to deal with completely on her own was Victoria hovering around, being her usual lascivious self. However, like before, she did little more than wink or smirk Bella's way, which was rarely considering how much Bell avoided that devil, and well. Without any of the other Cullens around, she made a much more intimidating presence, and Bella could always feel her hovering around when she walked the halls.

It helped that Victoria was pretty popular herself because of her sexual nature and good looks. She also seemed to relish the attention, and could frequently be seen shadowed by boys and girls hanging on her every word, which made it easier to stay out of her way. Still, once Bella walked by her in the hallway when the vampire was leaned against a locker lazily, flirting with a group of fawning boys. When their eyes met, Victoria smirked and rolled her hips in a sensual, obvious, and utterly shameless movement, a blatant reminder of the way she had mounted Bella in her car and rode her lap.

She blushed the rest of the day, furious and partly aroused.

All of her friends' comments about whether or not she ever actually did acknowledge whether Alice had a nice ass were not helpful either. She was in the midst of one of their little joking sprees that Wednesday.

"So, you never really answered us," Angela said, popping up on her left as Bella walked down the hallway, trying to ignore the looks she was getting.

It was pathetic really that no one had anything better to talk about, but Forks was starved for anything interesting so she wasn't surprised. She was the first possible lesbian in the school that they had ever seemed to have, at least. And not everyone could be a great person like her friends. She had picked the cream of the crop as far as good people went, apparently.

None of that stopped her from going red when half the hall turned to look at her as she passed by, though. Charlie seemed not to have gotten wind of it yet, which she was grateful for. She was not ready to deal with that.

"Answered you about what?" Bella replied, already exasperated because she knew the answer.

"About whether or not you think Alice has a nice ass," Jessica broke in, walking out of the classroom on Bella's right and joining them seamlessly the way she always did, none of them breaking stride.

"Can we not? Does this never get old to you two?" Bella scowled, partially at them and partially at the dude waggling his eyebrows obnoxiously at her as he passed.

Fucking pig. He was not the first to give Bella one of those lascivious looks, and undoubtedly wouldn't be the last.

_Stupid Mr. Gordon_, she thought angrily, blushing and ducking her head uncomfortably. _Pretentious asshole, reading my text out loud like that…_

But Angela and Jessica switched from joking to protective mode in three seconds flat.

"Hey buddy, your girlfriend's behind you," Angela informed him as they continued down the hall.

"And we're not sure if she's about to break up with you because you're a pig or because you wiggle your eyebrows like that at other girls," Jessica called sweetly and Bella felt her irritation melt away at their response to his idiocy.

There came yelling behind them from the guy and his girlfriend that made Bella shake her head and smile at her friends who both smirked and pretended like they couldn't hear it. Now the people in the hallway had something more interesting to look at it.

"So, answer the question," Angela insisted a split second later, laughing when Bella immediately growled and sped up so she was ahead of them. Some of it was dramatics for joking, but some of it was also because they were relentless.

"Come on, no one's judging. Just answer the question!" Jessica crooned, fast on her heels.

"No! There is no answer!" Bella snapped, bright red as her friends cackled at her glare.

Why did everybody laugh at her when she glared? Was she really that unintimidating?

"Sure there is!" Angela crowed, darting forward and matching her fast jog. "C'mon Bells, answer us and we'll never bring it up again!"

"Yep. You know we only badger you because you react like this. Just answer the question, Bells!"

Bella let out a muffled shriek of exasperation and sped up further, all of her previous fondness for them evaporating instantly.

"Come on, Bella!"

"Answer us!"

"Answer the question, Bella!"

"Just answer the question!"

"Dude, wasn't that the lunchroom? It's grub time, Bella, where are you going?" Angela suddenly slowed down as they passed the doors to the cafeteria, Bella speed walking as fast as she could in her determination to get away from them.

"Oops, I think she was too busy thinking about an answer to notice," Jessica snickered.

"You two are _insufferable_!" Bella yelled and jerked to a stop. She swore when they both doubled over in laughter at the expression on her face.

_Jackasses_, she thought, clutching her books in one arm and scowling as she stomped back towards the double doors, refusing to look at the two hyenas cackling behind her.

"Vultures," she barked at them and they only laughed harder. She didn't know why it was so funny but she supposed it was better than them recoiling from her in disgust at the idea that she might like girls.

"Well, if you would just _answer_ the _question_," Angela recovered first, wiping at her eyes as they trotted after her, both sniggering.

Bella whipped her head around to snarl back a retort that would probably be surmised entirely of _Shut up _that would have inevitably sent them both over the edge again, but as she put her hand out to grasp the door handle before her, a lovely scent of pine and sunshine coiled around her and she whipped around.

"Sup, Bella?" Emmett grinned as he walked up to them, his arm draped over Rosalie's shoulders.

What the _hell_ was she doing here?

Rosalie halted them a good five feet away and Bella was undeniably grateful, because if the blond got any closer she would probably have a hernia trying to keep it together in front of Angela and Jessica.

"Uh, hey?" she cocked her head at them, hand still stuck on the door handle.

Rosalie was garbed in a simple cream colored blouse and dark blue jeans, and Bella felt a brief moment of irrational jealousy that even as she stood there, looking as human as the rest of them and not as godly as a vampire that she was still retarded levels of gorgeous. Her hazel eyes were as piercing as ever and her silky blonde locks tumbled over her shoulders the way models had to have them carefully arranged to achieve the same perfect look. Her skin glowed with color that was as lovely as her flawless shade of porcelain.

It just wasn't fair. The inner lesbian in Bella appreciated the curves of her whether she was vampire or not, but still. She was only human, and she couldn't help but want to pout. It might have been nice to see Rosalie taken down a peg or two, but nope, she was as beautiful as ever, and by the haughty look on her face, probably as bitchy.

None of this had anything to do with why she was here, but that aroma radiating off of Rosalie could be quite distracting. Her pheromones were at an extremely high level, and even Angela and Jessica were looking at her kind of funny.

Which begged the question, why _was_ she here? Most of the Cullens had been absent all week except Emmett. Jasper was gone presumably to keep Alice company, Edward in Denali, and Rosalie was busy at home being human and having tests run on her by Carlisle.

Jasper and Edward still weren't here…Yet there stood Rosalie and Emmett.

_Is it not dangerous to have her here at school?_ Bella thought in bewilderment. And why wasn't everyone walking past the blonde collapsing in a fit of arousal? Sure, she was getting more looks than usual (which meant everyone was giving her a passing glance, not just most), but nothing like what Bella would feel if she got too close.

Emmett gave her a pointed look that said _Be cool, Bella_.

"Are you just going to stand there gawking like an idiot, or are you going to go in?" Rosalie raised an eyebrow, still hovering a good distance away.

Yep.

Still the same Rosalie as always. Just a little more human. Bella wondered how she was taking the new life, and what all those tests Carlisle was running were telling them.

"Er-yeah. Hi Emmett," Bella stuttered and absentmindedly pulled the door open. A few irritable people were grumbling as she held everyone trying to get to lunch up, so she quickly hurried in.

"So, what were you guys talking about?" Emmett asked sociably as he and Rosalie followed behind Angela and Jessica in behind her.

Said girls were both glancing back at him too frequently to be unnoticeable, to which Bella could barely contain her smirk.

Her friends were straighter than a two-by-four, and Emmett was carved from solid muscle and stood a massive six foot, three inches tall. Girls died over all the Cullen boys, but Emmett had more hospitality and charisma than broody Edward (asshole) and Jasper, who kept a polite distance from anyone to control his thirst, which inadvertently put people off.

In other words, they were trying not to swoon.

However, his question made Bella wince and she groaned at the twin smirks that appeared on their faces a second later.

"Oh, nothing," Angela sing-songed, swaying innocently as they walked towards the line to get their food. Bella glared at her.

"Don't," she warned, but it was too late.

"We've just been trying to get Bella to acknowledge whether or not Alice has a nice ass," Jessica stated, giggling when Bella practically hissed at her.

Emmett barked out a laugh that caused any girl who heard it to turn and stare with curious, appreciative eyes, and even Rosalie had to purse her lips to keep from smirking.

"You're both assholes," Bella snapped as they got in line. She crossed her arms and growled when they both cooed at her playfully. "Will you give it a _rest_?"

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a knot," Jessica laughed.

"Yeah, Alice isn't here to undo them for you," Angela muttered to Jessica under her breath. Bella shoved her away and they both cackled.

They really needed to stop bringing Alice up. If they didn't, she might start to get genuinely pissed off. The jokes could only go so far, especially concerning the friend she seemed to be losing all over again.

_God, Alice, why did you have to do this now? _Bella thought unhappily as she glanced over at a table filled with guys and girls, some of them snickering and gesturing at her. She blushed and looked away.

"Hey, are you guys actually going to eat?" Jessica turned and glanced over her shoulder when Emmett and Rosalie did not wander off like usual.

"Nah," Emmett replied, though they stayed in line. "We're still on that special diet." That special blood diet, he meant. "We were just wondering if we could sit with you guys today. Half the family's not here anyway. Me an' Rose were looking for a little company."

Angela and Jessica couldn't say yes fast enough.

"Totally," Angela waved a hand flippantly to emphasize that it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah, of course. No problem," Jessica babbled, staring at Emmett with wide eyes.

It was a good thing Rosalie was secure if nothing else but in her man. Emmett gave them a pleasant smile, but his arm stayed wrapped around Rosalie's shoulders, and Bella knew that for that boy, there was no competition who would ever compare to Rosalie. It was sweet to see.

Still, Bella frowned as she ladled food onto her plate, glancing at Rosalie out of the corner of her eye, still wondering at what they were doing here at all, let alone trying to sit with them. The Cullens always sat with each other at their own table with Bella alternating between sitting with them or her other friends each day.

All she got was a quirked eyebrow from the blonde which felt mildly challenging, so she kept her mouth shut. She would find a chance to ask them what was going on eventually, but she couldn't bring up anything in front of Angela or Jess. Normally, she would be getting all the details from Alice, but…

Yeah. Alice had texted her again during first period. All it had said was _Please pick up your phone the next time I call_, and Bella still wasn't sure if she would or should.

Maybe it was petty to ignore the vampire, but it still stung brutally that Alice had kicked her to the curb when she needed her most. If her friends had not stood by her, there would be no way she could stand all the looks she was still getting from people, or the rude comments, mostly perpetrated by Cassie and her crew of idiots. She could not pass by Cassie, Sophie, or Lauren in the hall without hearing the word dyke under their breath.

It hurt every time.

Still, where her friends made it bearable, Alice would have made it nothing…Maybe she really should pick up her phone when Alice called again. She found it painful how much she missed talking to the girl, and that made her think that maybe she really did need some distance from the vampire. Maybe they were getting too close for comfort…

Yet comfort was all she wanted from Alice right now.

Damn it, she was tired of thinking about it.

When they all got their food and walked over to their table, Eric and Mike were already seated and eating. They looked surprised when Emmett plopped down next to them, and Bella made sure to sit as far from Rosalie as she could get at the rounded table, on the opposite side from her but directly in front of her. It was big enough for the brunette to avoid the brunt of the blonde's pheromones, but she still had to consciously make the effort not to stare at her. Angela and Jessica sat down on either side of her.

"So," Emmett spoke, placing his elbows on the table and looking around amiably. "What's up, everybody?"

Big teddy bear. He may have looked a step under a body builder, but he was as social and goofy as they came.

Bella smiled a little and took a bite of her mashed potatoes as her friends looked both confused and excited that some of the Cullens were sitting with them. They were the most popular people in school, and even her friends were not immune to that star power. They were vampires too, so that surely helped the admiration.

Emmett quickly got a conversation going and soon the whole table was chattering away except for Rosalie and Bella. Bella was glad to see the group taking them so well, but even across the table her mashed potatoes were starting to taste like apples and coconut in her mouth. She made the mistake of glancing up and catching Rosalie's eyes, and her fork literally froze in front of her mouth.

_Jesus_, she thought, lips parted. Rosalie stared at her with apathy, seemingly oblivious to the effect she was having. _Maybe I should have told them not to sit with us. Why is she here anyway? She shouldn't be here like that. It's not safe. _

Whether it was not safe for her or Rosalie, she was not sure.

She was shaken out of it when she was addressed directly by Eric.

"So, Bella, what's up with you and the shortest Cullen? Speaking of, where have all you Cullens gotten off to lately?" Eric inquired, pointing his fork first at Bella and then at Emmett and Rosalie.

"Oh, we've been around. I'd like to know what's up with you and my sister too though, Bells," Emmett said vaguely, then swiftly pushed the subject onto Bella.

Fucking asshole.

Bella glared at him because surely he knew that there was currently tension between her and Alice. There was no way he didn't. He gave her an apologetic grimace.

"Uh," she mumbled, glancing around the table as all eyes turned to her.

Damn it, Emmett.

"Nothing? Seriously, why do you guys keep asking me that?" Bella complained, struggling to find a way out of it.

"Because, for the thousandth time, you two are really close. And you cannot tell me," Angela added when Bella opened her mouth to reply angrily, "that there is nothing going on between you two. Don't give me that crap about 'we're just friends' and 'she's just really affectionate.'"

"She _is_. Emmett, tell them," Bella demanded, blushing brightly.

"Alice _is_ a pretty friendly gal," Emmett drawled and when he received skeptical looks, he shrugged. "But she's also _really_ friendly with you, Bella."

_Traitor!_ She thought furiously, gawking at him when he put his hands up defensively.

"What?" he frowned.

He knew damn well what.

When Rosalie rolled her eyes, though, she thought maybe Emmett really didn't know what he was saying that was agitating Bella so much.

"Yeah, friendly as in I-wanna-touch-your-pus-"

"You finish that sentence and I'm sticking my fork in your ribs," Bella threatened as Jessica smirked.

Her face was burning hotly, and she was ready to make good on that promise at the look on her friend's face.

"Seriously, Bella, it's no big deal. Hey, so maybe you guys think you're just friends and don't _know_ you're not just friends," Angela suggested, popping a grape into her mouth.

"Yeah. You can't tell us you don't feel all that sexual tension between you two," Mike interjected.

What was this, gang up on Bella day? What the shit?

"_No_, I don't!" Bella snapped, scowling when they sniggered.

"Oh, right. Bella, hon, we're your friends too, but we don't touch you all the time like Alice does," Jessica rolled her eyes.

"You and Angela hug and touch all the time! Plenty of straight girls do too, and just because me and Alice are both into girls doesn't mean we're into each other! Alice is just an affectionate person!" Bella protested loudly, then shut her mouth when people turned to stare.

"Sweetie, me and Angie hug when we say goodbye sometimes, not _every_ time, and definitely not every time we see each other. And when we're touching each other, we're usually slapping one another, not practically holding hands," Jessica snorted.

"Or holding each other's waist," Eric added.

"And sometimes you grab each other's faces when you talk," Angela reminded her.

"Didn't you say she wiped your tears away in the parking lot?" Mike cocked his head. "Nobody does that stuff except boyfriends and girlfriends. And your parents."

Fuck, she shouldn't have told them the full story of what she did after she ran out of the classroom. If she told them about that almost-kiss thing that happened in the kitchen they would have a field day. She ignored the fact that that almost kiss was a clear point in their argument.

"And you always give each other these really gooey looks," Jessica said.

"And you never stop talking to each other. Isn't that how you got outed in the first place?" Angela continued, and Bella exploded.

"Alright, alright, I _get_ it. Will you all _shut up_? How did we get on this subject anyway?" she yelled, ignoring the looks she got for it.

They all shut their mouths, but looked no less amused.

_Jesus Christ, why am I on the hot seat today?_ Bella agonized, face on fire.

They were making her think about Alice in ways she had determinedly been trying not to think about her, and it was making her panic. So what if she and Alice touched a lot? Alice really was just a physically affectionate person, she wasn't lying about that. And Bella didn't mind. Alice was her best friend, that was it. There was nothing between them more than platonic affection, nothing else, and-

But then why did Alice say they were getting too close for comfort? And what was that in the kitchen?

_Fuck_, she thought. _Just fuck. No, no, no. This isn't happening._

"I don't like Alice like that, and she definitely doesn't like me like that. Even if we did, like you said, she's dating Jasper anyway, and I would never-We'd never jeopardize our friendship over some stupid shit like that. So can you guys drop it?" she pleaded, somewhere between defensive and desperate.

"She touches you more than she touches Jasper," Jessica muttered, avoiding Bella's eyes when the brunette glared at her.

"Bella, we're not trying to piss you off. But sweetheart, you have to admit, you guys _are_ really close. Closer than I've ever seen you with anyone else, even Edward," Angela said cautiously. She did not waver when Bella turned her glare onto her.

"And I've never seen Alice that close to anyone else besides Jasper," Emmett added.

Bella turned a dumbfounded look onto him, sizing him up for the first time when he gazed back innocently. _What is his angle? _She wondered, but his face gave nothing away.

"Why are you all pushing this so hard?" Bella frowned, pushing her food around self consciously on her plate.

"Why are you getting so worked up about it?" Eric countered.

"Because you guys won't _let it go_," she snapped back angrily.

_I don't like Alice like that. I don't, I won't, I don't_, she thought furiously, stomach twisting anxiously.

"Look, Bella, if it bothers you so much, we'll drop it. All we're saying is, maybe there's a reason you get so defensive talking about Alice. And you can say what you want, that girl's got it bad for you. What it is we may not know, but she does have it," Jessica put in, stealing one of Angela's grapes as she spoke.

"Whether or not you feel it too is a different story," Mike said.

Bella stayed silent, mind going hard. She put up a wall in her mind to block off any of their speculations from reaching any part of her brain that might process them in a critical way. There were too, too many ways that could go wrong.

"Alice doesn't like me like that," she finally mumbled.

_Does she?_

"Maybe, maybe not. Either way, that girl would walk through fire for you, Bella. You should have seen her go off on Mr. Gordon. I've never seen her yell at someone like that," Angela told her.

Bella had never seen Alice go off like that either, save for when she had gone off on Rosalie. She did not like that it became an arguing point for their speculation.

"Alice is just really protective," Bella replied, though her words sounded weak even to her own ears.

"Sure. We are too, you know that. You know we'd walk through fire for you too, Bella, and I love you honey, but I'd sure as shit hesitate before I did it," Jessica chuckled, snatching another grape off Angela's plate and dodging the Asian girls fending hands.

"I don't think Alice would even see the flames," Angela stated with total conviction. "And I think you're the same way when it comes to her. You're the same way as her, ya know. You guys don't ever really get mad at people, but when that guy asked if Alice could suck his dick as good as he ate you out, you almost swung on him. You're never a violent person even when people are ruder than rude."

Well, that guy had been fucking asking for it, and he had no right to talk about Alice like that. Son of a bitch would have had a broken nose if Angela and Jessica hadn't grabbed her when she bowed up on him, spluttering and swearing like an idiot. She had never known people could be so rude or obscene in Forks until she got outed.

"So?" Bella scoffed, glancing at her friends in annoyance, mostly because they were making too much sense for her poor heart to take.

"So," Eric said pointedly, waving his fork at her. "You two are like, hopelessly devoted to each other. Like, Sandy from Grease hopelessly devoted."

"It's sickening really," Jessica sighed, and Bella growled at them.

"Martin is a dick, and you all know it. You should have let me hit him. Just because I don't let him talk about my friends like that doesn't mean I'm in love with Alice or something!" she argued futilely.

"Nobody said anything about being in love," Mike pointed out and she blushed brightly.

God damn it, Mike.

"Martin has called Jessica a cock sucking slut more times than I can count on one hand and you never even batted an eyelid at him," Angela laughed.

"Yeah!" Jessica agreed, then, "Hey! Yeah, what the fuck, bitch?"

Bella cringed apologetically, but Jessica tended to step on toes around the school, and if she went around yelling at everyone that called her friend a name she would be in a body bag from all the fighting she had to do. She chose not to point that out so as not to make Jessica feel bad.

"See, that's my point," Angela continued, sounding far too confident for Bella's tastes.

"_What_ is your point, Angela? Because I really don't see it," she grit out through clenched teeth, starting to get really fed up with their persistence that there must be something between her and Alice.

"That you never go off until someone corners you. You're quiet, and you usually either don't care or just brush it off. But when someone backs you into a place where you have no way out, like now, you get vicious. And the only other time you snap faster is when someone goes after Alice," Angela explained.

Bella tightened her jaw and stabbed a carrot angrily with her fork, choosing not to respond to that.

_So what. So fucking what. Alice is my best friend. She's been my best friend for a while. I've been through a lot with her by now, and I've never clicked with someone like I click with her. So so fucking what if I'm defensive about her. That doesn't mean anything. Alice is the nicest person I've ever met. She doesn't deserve any of that crap. And so what if we touch a lot? Girl friends touch each other all the time, we're no different just because we do so a little more…_

And yet _girlfriends_ touched the way _they_ touched. Boyfriends and girlfriends touched the way they touched, if she really thought about it.

All that was missing was the kissing, and they had actually done that, too.

Well shit.

Maybe…Maybe they…

Maybe they were…_Right_?

Maybe…Maybe she liked Alice. Like _liked_ Alice.

No.

Nope.

Nuh uh.

Not happening.

No bueno, non, nein, _no_.

Because Bella knew what happened when you fell for your best friend, and that shit never ended well.

"Remember when you said you guys would drop it?" Bella said, voice beseeching now. "Can we do that please? _Please_?"

They must have picked up on the desperation in her voice, because the topic changed faster than Bella thought possible, mostly because Angela brought up Iron Man and the whole table jumped on Jessica for not liking him, including Emmett. She could sense how obvious they all knew it was to change subject so fast and why they were, but they didn't blink and Jessica accepted the assault as if to take the fall for Bella's peace of mind.

There was something to be said for friends like that, but there was also something to be said for friends that didn't push that shit so much until Bella had no choice but to think about it. She fell completely silent, not partaking, and the only other person who was as silent as her was Rosalie.

Rosalie.

Rosalie had been silent throughout the entirety of the time that she had been sitting here, and Bella couldn't help but glance at her to see if she was even still there or how she was taking the turn in the conversation. She _was_ the one who had been making less than subtle innuendos concerning her and Alice's relationship.

She started when she found the blonde staring right back at her. She felt a tightening sensation in her belly when Rosalie kept their eyes locked, uncaring to whatever Bella might be feeling. Her upper lip curled while everyone around them conversed, a monotone buzz beginning to take the place of actual words in Bella's ears.

Without meaning to, Bella glanced down at those full lips. Those were lips she had felt smash against her own a few days ago, and she swallowed hard at the sight of them. They dropped lower and her belly knotted tighter when she saw Rosalie's fingers peeking out from the crook of her crossed arms. Those were fingers that had groped her ass like it belonged to her, hands that had pulled her off the floor with unreal strength…

She did not like to look at Alice because they were supposed to be friends, and she did not like to look at Rosalie because they were supposed to be enemies, but that didn't stop her from remembering how good it felt to be pressed up against the beautiful blonde in the heat of a moment that would have made even a straight girl faint.

Her eyes abruptly flicked back up. Rosalie's eyebrows were high on her forehead, clearly noticing the look, and Bella was so startled and embarrassed that she dropped her fork halfway to her mouth. It clanked down on the table and mashed potatoes splattered across it and onto Angela's left arm.

"Ew!" Angela squealed as some of it got on her shirt and she jumped up.

Blushing and hating the way Rosalie sneered over at her with a wave of pine scented air wafting across the table to tickle her nose, Bella stood with her.

"Shit, Angela, sorry!" Bella gasped, grabbing for napkins and hurriedly beginning to wipe her friend off.

"You dweeb, I just washed this!" Angela pouted at her and shooed her hands away as everyone else laughed besides Rosalie.

"Sorry, sorry," Bella winced and Angela only shrugged and flicked some potatoes off her fingers at her.

"There, now we're even," Angela chuckled as flecks of potato splattered Bella's face.

Bella gave her the stink eye and Angela bumped their shoulders playfully, nearly knocking the brunette over. Scoffing indignantly, Bella bumped her back and they both squealed when Angela almost toppled over and grabbed at her to catch her balance. They shoved off of each other and Jessica yelped when Bella almost fell over on her. When they finally caught their balance completely, everyone was laughing outright and many were turning to stare at them.

Bella was wiping her face off and snickering at Angela when the voice rang out.

"Oh my god, look at those _dykes_!"

Bella stiffened and she and Angela turned around. She was able to spot Cassie, Lauren, Sophie, and a few more of their stupid flock hovering in the middle of the cafeteria and hawking at them like a bunch of vultures.

Angela's face smoothed out coldly as Bella shrank to a pinprick within herself, suddenly terrified.

The cafeteria was full of students eating lunch, and Cassie seemed to be relishing the attention that she was garnering with her loud voice. Bella was mortified to see Victoria sitting at a nearby table, surrounded by admirers and watching the scene with apparent interest. Their eyes met and Bella quickly looked away, despising that stupid smirk on the redhead's face.

"Aw, are the two girlfriends having a little cuddle?" Lauren crowed, sneering.

Fucking _shit_.

Bella hunched her shoulders and grit her teeth, stomach twisting.

"No, that looked a lot like foreplay to me," Sophie said cruelly, and half the lunchroom broke out into laughter and whispering.

Shitting _fuck_.

Jessica stood protectively as all eyes landed on them.

"No, she's dating that other dyke, remember guys?" Cassie smirked, crossing her arms. "That freak Alice."

Bella bristled but didn't say a word, boiling at the mention of her best friend. Her friends had one thing right; it took only saying Alice's name to fire her up.

"Yeah, we heard about your cute little sexts in History!" Cassie called out to them as she noticed Bella's face tightening. "God, we always wondered about you two freaks, but we never really thought you were a bunch of lesbos."

Welp.

If somehow everybody did not know yet, they did now, courtesy of Cassie Streeter. Bella's face flamed and her fists clenched as muted whispering broke out.

Before either Angela or Jessica could rush to her defense, someone else did.

"Funny how things we wonder about sometimes turn out to be true," Rosalie drawled back at them, speaking up for the first time.

Surprised that Rosalie was actually getting involved, Bella glanced over her shoulder and tensed when Rosalie stood slowly, lackadaisically lifting out of her seat. "Everybody wonders about the fact that you're a slut who's slept with the whole football team, Cassie, and oh! I guess all those STD's you've been treated for are proof of that. It's amazing all the things you learn when your daddy works at the local hospital instead of hanging out at all the local strip clubs."

Shocked, Bella's lips parted as Rosalie smiled sweetly, arms crossed and hip cocked out. The cafeteria exploded into guffawing and loud _oohing_. Eric yelled "BURN!" at the top of his lungs and the laughter rose way up in volume.

Her heart lifted just a little and she almost smiled, but Cassie shot it right back down.

"Who the hell asked you, Cullen?" Cassie snarled, face red with anger and embarrassment. "You're all a bunch of freaks, it's no surprise those two are a couple. You're all incestuous, sleeping in the same house and shit. It's _disgusting_!"

Emmett didn't like that and he got to his feet, making an imposing figure as he did, rising to his full height next to Rosalie. But Rosalie only laughed in a manner that was so condescending and derisive that Bella knew only the blond was ever capable of.

"We're adopted, you dumb cunt, and it's not like we grew up with each other or anything. At least we didn't let half the sports teams run a train on us in Freshman year," Rosalie taunted and Bella's surprise only deepened.

Was…Was Rosalie actually _defending_ her?

No, surely not. It must have been in defense of her sister and her adopted siblings, nothing else.

"Well at least if Cassie _did_ have a train run on her then it was by _boys_. I bet you're in on that lesbian shit too, Rosalie. What, is that what you do in your spare time, take turns on ugly old Bella with Alice? Or do you run the train on her too with your incest loving 'adopted' mother?" Sophie broke in.

She may have been an absolute bitch, but Sophie was the one in the group who always had the most vicious comebacks, and she knew everyone standing around her felt the heat on that one, most notably herself. Emmett's hands splayed vampirically, for he loved Esme as much as anyone and probably hated to hear the sweet woman's honor slighted. Bella shrank further at the continued attack, stunned that even Cassie's group would go so far in such a blatant way. She had thought Cassie and her group might have it out for her, but maybe they were just bitter about that spat they had with Alice a while ago. They were the kinds of girls who held grudges, and this was the perfect opportunity to get revenge.

Forks High School was such a small school that teachers rarely even entered the cafeteria to watch their students. Occasionally a teacher would pop in to see that everything was okay, but Mrs. Hartford had checked in only five minutes ago. Fights were too rare for them to bother, and most of those happened in gym class anyway. Bella could see the lunch ladies fidgeting over by the food bar, and desperately wished they would do something. There were students blatantly verbally fighting and swearing at each other, but they did not make any moves.

She couldn't stand the hateful snickering in the background and her throat bobbed as she tried to swallow the lump in it. She did not know what to say, was never good at shit talking or any of that. She didn't _want_ to shit talk. She wanted them to leave her alone. It was the first outright display of animosity towards her over her sexuality, and it was _awful_.

She had never thought Forks was so…_Terrible_ like this. She had expected some of the treatment, but nothing like this.

Cassie was a huge cunt.

"Burn!" Lauren mocked, sneering at Eric who scowled at her and Jessica flipped her the bird as everyone watching hissed, winced, or roared at the insult.

"I don't know why you're acting all high and mighty, Sophie, Lauren," Rosalie said, unaffected, as if they were merely chatting instead of having a bitch-off in front of what seemed to be the whole school. "You call Bella the ugly one but you wear enough make up to run a cosmetics factory. Maybe it's Maybelline, huh? Or maybe you're just ugly as fuck."

And _maybe_ Rosalie actually _was_ defending Bella.

Nobody else was more stunned by that than the brunette herself, who stared in disbelief at the blonde over her shoulder. Victoria laughed out loud even when everyone else was whispering, watching it unfold with interest. Bella trembled at the sound of it and refused to look at her.

It was best to pretend like Victoria simply did not exist, or she would make everything that much worse.

"Oh, fuck off Rosalie, why do you even try to deny it? Alice even _looks_ like a dyke with her short hair. Still, word has it _she_ was the one sleeping with the football team, and every other guy in the school. Turns out she was just a carpet muncher though," Lauren snapped, offended by being called out personally.

Oh, no.

She did _not_ just go after Alice.

No way. They could say what they wanted about Bella, or anyone else save maybe Charlie. But she was not going to stand around while they ganged up on her best friend when Alice wasn't even here to defend herself. Maybe she and Alice were in a rough spot, but that did not change the fact that Alice did not deserve the assault on her reputation.

She wouldn't _let_ those bitches.

"Who the hell asked you Lauren? Shut your mouth, no one wants to hear from the girl who got held back _twice_ in _Kindergarten_. You're the oldest one here _and_ the dumbest!" Bella yelled, shouldering past Angela and planting herself out in the open, ignited by the attack on her best friend.

So fine. Angela and Jessica were right about that then. She got angry as fast as a jaguar with a stepped on tail when someone went after Alice.

Oh freaking well. Nobody was going to talk about that sweet girl like that while Bella was around.

Alice did not deserve that. She just didn't.

She could not deny that the crowd guffawing again bolstered her a little. Rosalie surely helped as well. How could you argue with the gorgeous, spiteful blonde? She understood how good it was to have the girl on her side instead of against her for once, whatever her reasons might be.

It would have been even better to have Alice's cool headed self here, too. Then Bella would not cower one bit.

She briefly met Victoria's eyes again and could see the redhead silently clapping with an amused look on her face, apparently impressed by her gall.

God, she was so freaking unnerving.

"You bitch!" Lauren screeched.

"Sycophant!" Bella scoffed back superiorly, ripping her eyes off of Victoria to reengage.

"_You're_ the sicko!" Lauren shouted and there was muffled snickering in the crowd from anyone who understood the word.

"She's so _dumb_," she faintly heard Angela say.

Yet it seemed that Cassie had had enough.

"Who asked _her_?" she scoffed. "Who asked _you_? Nobody asked to see your nasty lesbian shit around this school but you and Alice are still all over each other all the time. Why don't you Cullens just leave? Nobody wants you here anyway!"

"Yep. Go back home to your fucked up Mommy and fucked up Daddy and take your fucked up selves back to whatever fucked up place you came from, and take Swan with you," Sophia said and the group around her nodded in a sickening way in agreement.

Forks was in Washington and yet people were acting like this was the damned bible belt!

"Sophie, sweetie, don't try to out bitch the original HBIC, okay? Your parents are immigrants from Puerto Rico, you idiot, you're not from here either. You moved here a year before us," Rosalie declared.

"Which means I was here first, so clear the hell out!" Sophie snapped, starting to lose some of her confidence when Rosalie remained wittier and faster than her with her comebacks.

"Yeah, because that makes sense," Rosalie rolled her eyes. "You're a homophobe when half this school calls you a wetback _behind_ your back. You of all people should know better."

Half the crowd seemed to miss the context of the racist term Rosalie employed, and as such protesting shouts rang out, and suddenly the whole thing dissolved into a yelling match as Sophie's Hispanic face drained of color. Cassie and Lauren resorted to yelling every insult at them in the book while Jessica and Angela matched them word for word, and the students in the cafeteria went into an uproar.

Sophie suddenly broke free from her group and came flying across lunchroom, looking pissed and fit to kill. Cassie and Lauren were not far behind.

_That_, Bella thought. _Is a _very_ bad idea._

Bella was so surprised she couldn't even react. They weren't _that_ stupid were they? She didn't even move but she saw as much as felt Jessica and Angela tense, clearly ready for the inevitable attack, ready to go in swinging if those girls even got close to Bella.

She didn't know why Sophie was eyeing her like a football player eyes the guy running with the ball, either. _She_ was not the one who had been running her mouth; that was Rosalie.

_Shit, am I about to be in a fist fight?_ She thought in the few seconds she had before they would reach her. _I don't know how to fight!_

It never happened.

In a whirl of pine trees and sunshine, Rosalie shouldered past them and met Sophie head on. The Hispanic girl looked as surprised as anyone when the blonde vampire –human?- got in her way and two handed _shoved_ her midstride.

Sophie staggered and only kept from falling over because Cassie and Lauren caught her, albeit not by choice. They blinked and yelped girlish yelps when Sophie wind milled back into them, nearly sending them all sprawling.

"_Walk away_," Rosalie spat out, planting herself directly in front of Bella like an angelic statue.

Not good.

_Not good!_

Bella inhaled sharply and froze as pheromones swirled around her provocatively, slipping into her pores. She tensed up so hard her muscles screamed, and she could only stare helplessly at the back of Rosalie's head, stuck.

_Oh god, oh god, what is she doing?_

Sophie stood back up straight and postured. She took a step forward as Rosalie stared her down, not moving an inch. When Rosalie didn't move, Sophie opened her mouth and took another step forward, something she never would have dared to do if Rosalie were at full vampiric power.

"Walk_. Away_," Rosalie snarled, bristling at the aggressive move. Her hands splayed, itching with age old instincts to extend her vampire claws, though she did not currently wield any.

And so it came to be that Rosalie did not even need to be a vampire to back someone down.

Sophie hesitated at that voice, and rightly so. Rosalie's hazel eyes dug into hers, daring her to make another move, to cross that line. Wisely, Sophie drew back, huffing and scowling.

"This isn't over," she promised, and then stormed past them. Cassie and Lauren hurried after her and they all banged out of the place through the doors, the cafeteria dead silent at the tension, breathlessly anticipating a fight that Rosalie had just shut down like a godsend.

Bella?

She was about to pass out.

She was holding her breath so desperately that her lungs felt ready to burst. Every bit of Rosalie's flaring pheromones coated her, melted her insides, and tugged at her sex hungrily, only stirred further by the blonde's apparent agitation.

"God _damn_," Jessica murmured next to her as Rosalie slowly turned around, the cold look on her face being replaced by her usual apathy, and Angela whistled appreciatively.

"Yo, respect girl!" Eric called from behind them.

"You sure put her in her place. I thought it was about to be a girl fight," Mike said, sounding almost disappointed.

Bella was about to start wheezing.

_Go away_, she thought desperately, stomach cramping from how hard her abs were clenching in want. _Rosalie, _please_! Get the hell away from me!_

She was standing too close for far too long. It was too much. Bella was going to explode, or implode, or fall to pieces; she could feel it building in an undeniable pressure inside of her.

Rosalie peered at her with an unreadable expression on her face, though her eyes were still hard. They stayed that way, Bella internally dying and seconds away from crying out and going to her knees as the pulsating between her thighs reached a fever pitch.

_Get away, get away, get away!_

"Rose," Emmett appeared and put a hand on her shoulder. Rosalie stirred at it as if just realizing what was going on. She looked Bella up and down, tilted her chin up a little, and scowled her trademark scowl.

"Coward," Rosalie declared to her face, and then she blew past her, brushing their shoulders as she did so.

Bella's knees hit the floor, and right there in front of everybody, in front of all her friends and the entire school and in perfectly plain view, Isabella Swan arched her back, mewled, and came.

* * *

_**I said I'd scale the chapters back some more, but this one doesn't count because it was already partially written lol. A big scene was scrapped from a different chapter and placed in this one because it fit better. Anyway, much love for the love everyone. It really is appreciated. You guys give some pretty good reviews, by the way, better than a lot I've gotten on fics before. There are some pretty thought out ones, and you guys make me literally lol sometimes with all your guessing. Seriously. Ya'll have some hilarious reactions. Even the one liners some of ya'll drop me are good. So yeah. Anyway. **_

_**Friendly reminder that everything that is happening is happening for a reason. And don't be so mad with Alice, guys. There are reasons, I promise ;) All will be explained in due time.**_

_**Oh, and I'm editing this to add that I know some people are sensitive when it comes to race issues. Please remember that Rosalie did not call Sophie a wetback, she simply pointed out that people do behind her back. She is not being racist. It just may have been a better idea for her not to drop the term despite the point she was making because it can go right over people's heads. **_


	12. Chapter 12

Silence is a peculiar thing.

It's incredible how the sound of nothing can be so utterly oppressive, and that was all Bella could hear as her sex spasmed as she collapsed with that hopeless, desperately sexual noise leaving her throat before she could even realize what was happening.

To her credit, she reacted quickly.

_Oh fuck!_ She thought and went from arching her back inward and tilting her head towards the ceiling to crunching forward and curling in on herself to hide the look of bliss on her face from all the watching eyes.

"Bella?" Angela gasped above her as Bella pressed her hands down hard on her lower abdomen to quell the delicious ache pumping between her thighs.

_Fuck you Rosalie, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you_, she thought furiously, trembling as the quick but powerful orgasm began to fade, leaving her thighs shaking and her heart pounding. She had gushed in her fit of pleasure and was uncomfortably wet between her legs. She flinched when she felt a hand on her back and the voices of her friends calling to her in concern.

That did _not_ just happen…

"Bella, hey, are you okay? Bella?" Angela murmured as she crouched down next to the brunette.

No.

No, she was _not_ okay.

She just _came_ in front of half the student body.

Her face was so red that she did not dare look at Angela, but she could hear the whispering in the cafeteria stirring up.

"I'm okay," she squeaked, still doubled over.

Jesus, that was _ridiculous_.

Rosalie had only brushed their shoulders but it had been unreal the way her pheromones bomb rushed Bella from the slight touch. She had not been able to contain or resist the pleasure that shot through her the instant they touched and Rosalie's aura flooded her being with heat and desire that her poor body could not cope with.

Which resulted in her _releasing_ so fast and hard that she was _still_ trying to catch her breath.

That was it.

She was calling Carlisle about this crap the second she got the chance, and killing Rosalie the next.

"What happened? You sound like somebody stabbed you," Jessica said. Bella felt her other friend drop down worriedly next to her.

She _had_ been stabbed, by that bitch Rosalie, who knew better than to get that close to her, let alone brush against her like that. God _damn_ it.

"Bells? Seriously, are you alright? People are starting to stare," Jessica informed her nervously.

They had been staring since Cassie and her crew blasted past them. Now they certainly had no reason to look away. Bella glanced up, mortified, arms still wrapped around her quivering middle, and saw all the watching eyes. No one was even really eating anymore, too caught up in watching the weird ass girl collapsed on the floor.

Well.

This was embarrassing.

Nobody may have known exactly what her problem was, but _she_ did, and getting off like that with everyone watching was completely and utterly devastating.

Bella's eyes of course swiftly found Victoria's, and by the look on her face, she knew the redhead knew _exactly_ what had just happened. Her vampire ears would have known the reason for that pitiful mewl of ecstasy like a professional pianist could pick out the notes of different keys where others could mistake it for a groan of pain.

Victoria's eyes glittered and she was smiling a Mona Lisa smile. Very slowly and very deliberately, the vampire licked her lips, said something to the people she was sitting with, and then stood up.

And then she began to walk towards them.

"Stomach cramp!" Bella gasped and leapt to her feet, staggering a little. Angela and Jessica looked startled, but she looked crazy enough anyway already, so oh well.

"Stomach cramp?" Mike said skeptically, eyeing her uncertainly.

"Yep!" Bella replied in a high pitched voice, clutching her stomach and giving an exaggerated wince. "Must have been the school food. Maybe I'm getting my period. I'm fine now though, don't worry. No big deal. But I-"

Victoria was getting closer, walking unhurriedly with her hips swinging back and forth with every step. Rosalie's pheromones still lingered in her sensitive nervous system, and if that redhead vixen got close, it would be all over for Bella. She might even orgasm again if the vampire laid it on thick which she was perfectly capable of doing, and as she'd proven before, willing to do.

_Shit. _

"I gotta go!" Bella yelped, turned and bolted.

"Bella, what the hell? Gotta go _where_?" Angela shouted after her.

"Bathroom!" she called back, booking it for the doors on legs that could barely support her weight.

She knew she looked insane as she sprinted out of the lunchroom, but there was nothing else for it. People could say and think what they wanted about her outburst, they could whisper and talk about her standoff with Cassie, they could jump to all sorts of conclusions.

Bella didn't care.

Anything was better than facing Victoria, and so she ran, and did not stop until she reached her third period classroom and grabbed her stuff before darting off to fourth. The bell rang but she was already moving out the door again.

_Don't look at anyone, don't say a word_, she thought frantically, speed walking with her head down, a pronounced slickness between her thighs that made every movement remind her of why she was going to put a fucking stake through Rosalie's chest the next time she saw her, whether it would kill her or not. What was that woman's _deal_? She knew better. She _knew_ not to get so close to Bella, let alone _touch_ her. And why had the effect been so powerful this time? Alice had _hugged_ her when her pheromones were high and she had not had _that_ reaction.

Bella was going to kill Rosalie, somehow, some way.

She knew there were eyes following her as she walked, some people fresh out of the cafeteria as well and whispering to their friends about it.

She really hated Forks, Washington right then. They were looking at her like a circus freak and her neck went hot under the stares. When she got into fourth period, she sat up front instead of in the back where she usually sat with Mike and Eric, and when they walked in she avoided their eyes like the plague and brushed off their questions of if she really was okay and why she was acting so weird until the teacher told them to go sit down.

And that was what she did for the rest of the day.

She avoided her friends (and Victoria) with the desperation of a woman being hunted throughout the rest of school, and when that final bell rang, she was the first one to the parking lot, and also the first one out of it.

* * *

Bella sighed as she reclined in her bed, staring at her popcorn ceiling, the same thing she had been doing for the past hour since she had gotten home from school. She miserably replayed the day for the thousandth and first time, reliving every horrible second of it.

_I came. In front of everybody. And I moaned like a whore while I did it too_, she anguished, putting her face in her hands and groaning. _I hate you Rosalie_, she thought for the one millionth time. _I hate you, I hate you, I _hate_ you. _

The mantra was spiteful and petty but it was comforting all the same. It was the only comfort she was like to get at this point. Besides, the weak hope that nobody would ever guess what her problem had been wasn't doing much for her. That would be just what she needed, for everyone to figure it out.

Isabella Swan, the girl who likes girls, orgasming from brushing up against another girl.

Wow.

_Just, clap it out_, _Bella_, she thought sarcastically. _Clap it out. This is your life now. Look how great it's turning out. _

If only people knew she hung out with vampires, too. Wouldn't _that_ really put the cherry on top?

She was in the middle of contemplating how mad Charlie would be if she put a hole in her wall –with her face- when Alice called.

Bella's phone rang out to the sound of _Teach Me How to Dougie_ (Alice's choice, not hers, supposedly because she swore one day she would make Bella learn how to do that stupid dance) and the human gave a forlorn sigh that was like to wilt flowers with how depressed it was.

To answer or not to answer?

That certainly is the question.

Bella looked at her phone lighting up on her dresser with apprehension, torn.

On the one hand, she needed Alice more than anyone right then.

On the other hand, Alice had also blatantly told her that she didn't want to hang out anymore, which inBella's mind translated to _Not friends anymore. _

Still…

She had done the same thing with her other friends and had been proven completely wrong. And Alice was closer to her than anyone, so maybe it wasn't fair to assume whatever she had to say would be negative. They were best friends after all, and Bella knew Alice wouldn't just cut their ties off like that so suddenly.

But it still hurt.

"Fuck it," she muttered, reached over, snatched up her phone, and clicked answer. "Hello?" she said tentatively.

"Bella? _Finally_."

Alice's voice was as sweet and high as ever, and the sound of it sent an unexplainable ache through her chest. It had been too long since she had heard it, and it had kinda been the only thing she wanted to hear lately.

"Hey, Alice," she rasped and then coughed to clear her rough throat. She blushed then, for no ready reason.

"Hey, Bells," Alice's reply came through the phone in a gentle tone that made butterflies stir in her belly.

_I don't like her_, Bella told herself vehemently. _Angela and Jessica and everyone were wrong. I just missed her, that's all. There's nothing wrong with missing your best friend after you've had a fall out._

"Thank you for picking up this time," Alice lilted, sounding both playful and mildly annoyed.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry. I've been busy lately," she answered in a falsely honest way, clutching the phone tightly in one hand and picking nervously at a stray thread in her tank top at the same time.

There had never been a time in the period of their friendship that they had been too busy to reply to a text or phone call. The excuse was as weak as it was transparent.

"Right," Alice hummed, the sardonic tone making Bella blush again.

"I have," she defended, pursing her lips as more heat made its way into her cheeks. "Besides, you told me you wanted space anyway," Bella continued in a more guarded tone, fighting embarrassment with a little offense.

It probably wasn't a smart idea to get into this so fast, especially in such a way, but it was too late.

"No, I didn't," Alice huffed, not shying from the subject at all. "You seem to have heard what I said a lot differently than I did, Bella."

Gawking, Bella glanced at her phone in disbelief as if Alice could actually see her, and then put it back to her ear to protest.

"Yes, you did! You said you didn't want to hang out anymore. What was I supposed to think, that you were calling me up to chit chat instead? Sorry if I-"

"Bella," Alice interrupted, sounding agitated now. "Can we not do this over the phone? Can I please come over and talk about this to you face to face?"

Bella's stomach flipped at that suggestion and she bit the inside of her lip anxiously. Instinct told her to say no, but with Alice's voice in her ear for the first time in days, when she had needed her so much lately, she hesitated.

"I thought you said we'd been face to face a little too much lately," she murmured into the phone, unable to keep all the spite out of her voice, or the hurt.

Yep.

Yep, that wound was still fresh if the way Bella slumped into her bed were any indication.

Alice, however, did not seem to like the comment very much.

"You know what I _meant_," she snapped. "Don't be that way, Bella," she added as if she had seen her tone of voice make Bella grimace. Alice knew her oh too well. "Please, just let me come over and we'll talk this out. I know you had a really rough day, but I can help. I'm still your best friend, aren't I?"

"_Are_ you?" Bella asked before she could stop herself, the trill in her question making her wince.

"Yes," Alice stated, her voice rising just so in a way that Bella knew she was offended.

Oops.

"Are you not mine now or something?" Alice demanded a moment later when Bella shifted and took too long to respond. "You don't want to be friends now, is that it? Because of one conversation where you took what I said wrong anyway?"

Panic.

Absolute panic.

"No, that's not it!" Bella hissed, heart jumping. "No, of course you're still my best friend. I just thought-"

_Well, you thought wrong_, Angela's voice echoed in her brain. _Whatever you thought was wrong, because we don't hate you or any dumb shit like that._

"I just thought you didn't want to be friends anymore," she finished meekly, and pressed one miserable hand to her forehead, because of course that would never be true, not with Alice.

Never with Alice.

Always, they had told each other. Always. Had the vampire not proven that time and time again? Why would this be any different?

It just hurt so much to be told that Alice did not want to be around her anymore…

"Of _course_ I still want to be friends," Alice scoffed. "Bella, will you please just let me come over and explain? _Please_?"

The plea was all it took to break her and Bella sighed helplessly into her phone. How was she supposed to resist that tone?

She wasn't.

She was supposed to give in, and so she did.

"Okay," she murmured, voice quieter than she meant it to be. "Okay, Alice."

"_Thank_ you," Alice sighed with exasperation, and with a light laugh, she hung up.

O-_kay_?

Blinking in surprise, Bella put her phone down back on her dresser and frowned.

Well that was a really rude way to end that call. They never hung up on each other without saying goodbye. Had she irritated Alice that much?

Bella jumped, however, when the vampire who had just so rudely hung up on her appeared in her window with the soft sound of the glass sliding up so she could slip into the brunette's room, which she was currently doing.

"Hey, Bella," Alice greeted in a bright voice, the sight of her stunning Bella stupid.

It was not merely the fact that Alice was here and climbing so suddenly into her room that really shut her up. It was seeing her for the first time in days, and having to remember how beautiful Alice really was, and how well she lit up the world.

Alice landed nimbly on her carpet and smiled a kind smile towards her. Her heart shaped lips tilted up in a way that made her apple cheekbones raise, her golden eyes twinkled, and when she walked right over to Bella, sank on one knee into her bed and reached over to wrap her arms around the brunette's neck, Bella could only freeze up, spluttering.

_What-? _

The familiar scent of white chocolate and berries made her inhale deeply and she instinctively wrapped her arms around Alice's waist, straightening and blinking rapidly in astonishment.

It felt better than she could ever admit to herself, Alice's arms around her neck and the feel of her after not seeing her for what felt like weeks and not days.

_I don't like her like that._

She had _not_ been expecting the hug, nor had she expected Alice to show up like that, but she definitely wasn't complaining as Alice drew back and smiled at her before sitting down on the bed in front of her, oblivious to Bella's internal rush. She didn't know why Alice had hugged her even though they were technically sort of fighting, but something about it soothed Bella immensely.

_I don't like her_, she thought. _I don't._

"Hey, Bells. I missed you," Alice said when Bella only stared at her in disbelief.

"Hey, Alice? How did you-When did you-" Bella stammered, and Alice perked up as if just realizing why Bella was so surprised.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, I knew you would eventually say yes if I kept prodding, so I just came over anyway. Sorry, I didn't mean to like, intrude or anything. But then you did say I could, so," Alice babbled, waving flippantly at the window and shrugging when Bella's eyebrows rose.

"Oh," was all she said in reply, her throat feeling dry for some reason.

They just stared at each other for a long moment. The sunlight coming into her room was fading fast because this was Forks and the sun was never out for long, but the way it lit up Alice was making Bella distinctly uncomfortable. She was intrigued more than she should be about the way Alice's jet black hair was illuminated with a curious red sheen she had never noticed in it before, and the way the strands brushed along her lovely jaw line.

"So," she croaked and cleared her throat, fiddling anxiously with her hands when Alice only continued to wait for her to talk first. "What's up?"

Idiot. Dumb, dumb, dumb question.

Alice quirked an eyebrow at her.

"What's up?" she echoed. "What's up is that you're being really unfair right now."

Straight to the point as always, Alice.

"How?" Bella scowled at her though, blushing despite herself.

"Because I never said anything like not wanting to hang out with you anymore, and I certainly didn't say anything about not wanting to be friends anymore," Alice said pointedly, her gentle smile giving way to a reprimanding expression.

"Okay, you totally did. You said we were spending too much time together and you didn't want to hang out-" Bella rushed out indignantly, folding her legs Indian style under herself.

"No, I didn't. I expressly said that I _do_ want to hang out with you. I always want to hang out with you. All I said was that maybe we shouldn't as _much_. And I never said we had to stop completely. If you had _listened_ to me," Alice emphasized when Bella opened her mouth to protest. "instead of jumping out of the car and running off, you would have heard me tell you that I only wanted to spend the duration of my suspension apart, not _stop being friends_. I mean, really, Bella?"

Bella went crimson at the offended look on Alice's face. She glanced down at the sheets and squirmed, embarrassed and a creeping shame crawling up in her.

"Oh," she mumbled, avoiding Alice's piercing eyes.

She really needed to stop jumping to conclusions in her fear.

"But I mean, what was I supposed to think? You said it like I was getting on your nerves or something. And things _have_ been weird between us, and didn't you think it was kind of crappy to spring that on me when I was already freaking out about going back to school? Which has been hell, by the way," Bella feebly protested, and Alice sighed at her.

The vampire turned and slipped both legs onto the bed to fully face her, with both a guilty and exasperated expression on her face. The sight of it made Bella shift around, hot and uncomfortable.

"I know," Alice admitted. "That was really bad timing, but there's a reason I felt like I had to say it when I did. That's part of why I wanted to come talk to you face to face, because there are some things I need to explain to you, Bella. I'm sorry I made you feel like I was abandoning you when you needed me, but that's not how it is, I promise. You know I would never leave you alone to deal with that. I knew your friends would have your back, and I saw in my visions that Cassie was going to start with you today. I sent Rosalie and Emmett to go and keep an eye on you."

_Alice_ asked Rosalie and Emmett to come watch over her? _That's_ why they were there today?

"Why Rosalie?" she balked, bewildered. "She-Do you even know what-I mean seriously, why _her_? She shouldn't have been at school like that. She-"

Did Alice know? Had they told her everything that had happened at school today? No, how could they have? Rosalie had stalked off and probably not even noticed Bella falling apart behind her…Or maybe she did, and just didn't care.

Either way, Bella couldn't get it out of her mouth, and just trying made her tongue stick to the roof of her mouth. How was she supposed to tell Alice that she had orgasmed in front of the whole school? Even thinking about it made her nauseous with embarrassment.

"I would have preferred to send only Emmett, but Rosalie's been driving everybody crazy being cooped up in the house, complaining that she isn't even getting to experience being human, and Carlisle wanted to see how she would cope being out and about in her human state for scientific purposes. She's not returning nearly as fast as I did. The only thing she's gotten back about being a vampire is her fangs, and it's been days since you bit her," Alice told her. "Emmett was there to make sure nothing went wrong."

Bella pouted anyway, sulking. So Alice had sent them as guard dogs?

Great fucking choice, that was, and Emmett did a really great job making sure nothing went wrong, didn't he?

She would have preferred to have an old fashioned hair pulling, face slapping girl fight with Cassie and her crew than have that blonde _woman_ make her cum in front of all of her peers. Yet the intention behind Alice's gesture could not be ignored. Even when she couldn't be there herself for Bella, she was trying to do it in other ways.

She was such an _idiot_ for ever believing Alice never wanted to see her again. She had to stifle the urge to blurt out an apology right then and there. It wasn't that she meant to be this way towards her friends, but when the fear of the worst set in, Bella sometimes couldn't help it.

Alice hesitated, on the verge of saying something, and Bella waited curiously, wondering what it was.

"Bella," Alice sighed. "I know what Rosalie did to you, and I am _so_ sorry. Esme's put her on house arrest until she's full vampire again because of it-"

Bella wasn't listening anymore. She was frozen still, all the blood in her body rushing to her face.

_Oh my god, she knows!_

God, could this be _any_ more embarrassing?

"-and we had no idea she would be able to cause that kind of reaction," Alice finished, sympathy written in the downturn of the corners of her mouth.

That only made it worse. Embarrassment coated her like a hot sheet and Bella shrank beneath it. Somehow, the fact that _Alice_ knew only made it worse.

"God, Alice!" Bella mourned, dropping her face into her hands to hide it. Her cheeks were hot to the touch and she whined pitifully.

"It'll be okay," Alice rushed to say. "Bella, it's really not that bad-"

"Yes it _is_!" she groaned into her palms. "I-In front of everyone-"

"Nobody knows what was happening to you, Bella. It's not your fault, you couldn't help it."

That wasn't helping. It didn't matter that nobody knew. Bella did, and that was enough.

She let out a miserable noise that made Alice sigh again, but this time it was not exasperated, but compassionate.

"Oh, Bells, stop it," she murmured and Bella tensed when two cool hands wrapped around her wrists and gently but firmly pried her hands away from her face.

It wasn't fair. Even when she strained against Alice's grip, it was useless, so she turned her head away quickly to hide the tears that had begun to pool in her eyes, only further embarrassed.

It was _mortifying_.

"Bella, sweetie, look at me," Alice insisted softly and Bella flinched when the vampire's fingers brushed her cheek, coaxing her to face her again. Helplessly, Bella obeyed, following the motion of Alice's hand against her face.

When their eyes met, Bella took a great shuddering breath, and a single tear dripped from her right eye, overflowing. Effortlessly, mindlessly, Alice's thumb swiped out and brushed it away, and Bella could not explain the ache that pulsed in her quivering heart at the movement, or when Alice smiled a nose crinkling smile at her, trying to comfort her.

_"And sometimes you grab each other's faces when you talk," Angela reminded her._

_"Didn't you say she wiped your tears away in the parking lot?" Mike cocked his head. "Nobody does that stuff except boyfriends and girlfriends. And your parents."_

Bella ignored the voices of her friends echoing in her mind as Alice drew her hand back.

"I needed you, Alice," Bella admitted in a heavy voice, and Alice's face twisted up, empathy radiating off of her.

_I needed her more than she knows_, Bella thought. _I needed her more than even I knew._

She didn't like to think of the implications of that.

"I know," Alice replied quietly. "I know, Bella. And that's why I'm here right now, to explain everything. _Everything_."

Bella tilted her head, rubbing at her eyes to get rid of the tears in them. Crying now would only make her feel worse and she hated to be a drama queen though she knew Alice wouldn't judge her for it.

"Everything?" she parroted, a little confused at the emphasis.

"Yep," Alice said. "Everything. You remember how I told you I couldn't tell you why Victoria was here?"

Bella was instantly more alert now that she knew what Alice was talking about. Curiosity stirred inside her and she nodded swiftly, both apprehension and excitement filling her. Was Alice really about to reveal the nature of that woman's presence? It had been killing her not knowing, but she had not had the chance to ask Alice about it again.

But now? That was a little out of left field, wasn't it?

"But what does that have to do with everything else?" Bella frowned. "Not that I don't want to know, but…"

"It has a lot to do with it Bella. More than you could ever know. It's got to do with everything, really," Alice informed her sincerely. "I don't want to keep any of this from you anymore. You have no idea how much I've been keeping from you, and why I've had to. But I can't do it anymore, Bella. I feel like I'm lying to you even though I'm not, and you _need_ to know. So I'm going to tell you all of it."

Bella got the feeling Alice was understating just exactly how much Bella was missing. She had a vague memory of Alice and Victoria arguing after the pixie had saved Bella from the wicked woman's ways in her car, of Victoria stating that she had only promised to keep Bella out of the _loop_, but not out of _it_.

What the hell was _it_ then?

"Okay, because I really want to know. Victoria has been driving me crazy. I was about to explode if she looked at me like a juicy steak one more time and I've been dying to know anyway," Bella replied eagerly, some of her embarrassment lifting at the thought that she was actually about to get some answers for once.

Alice didn't like that and she growled at the mention of the redhead's lascivious looks. But then she rolled her eyes and sighed.

She was sighing far too much as of late.

"Look, Bella, I have to tell you that what you're about to hear isn't a joke. This is really serious stuff. Like, life and death serious," Alice warned her.

_Life and death serious?_ Bella raised her eyebrows and Alice made a discontented noise.

"I'm _serious_. Don't take any of this lightly, Bella. I'm not playing. You need to know what you're getting into-Or rather, what you're already into," Alice insisted. "You can't just write any of this off like it's no big deal because it _is_ a big deal."

What the crap could it possibly be?

Bella was _really_ dying to know at this point and the look on Alice's face was causing trepidation to mix with her curiosity, but she had to acquiesce the girl first.

"Alright, alright. I get it, I won't. I'm serious. What's the big deal, Alice? What are you not telling me?" Bella inquired desperately, beyond curious now.

Alice stared at her for a long moment, and only when Bella ducked her head to stare back honestly through her lashes did she relent.

"Okay…If you get that this isn't some game…"

"I do," Bella said hurriedly. "Seriously, Alice, spill. What's going on?"

Alice ran a hand through her thick black locks, and then reluctantly began to talk.

"Do you remember when Edward told you about that portrait of those vampires in the foyer of our house?" Alice began with a question.

Uh, barely? She vaguely recalled her ex explaining to her about some painting they always passed when entering the Cullen home. Something about those being the most powerful vampires around, and they had some weird name she couldn't remember.

"Sorta?" Bella replied in confusion, not getting why Alice was asking.

"That was a portrait of the Volturi. He told you that they are basically like the vampire police, right?"

_Shit, I don't remember, do I?_ She thought, shrugging to let Alice know she was at a loss.

Alice gave her a look for her bad memory and she shuffled defensively, to which the pixie gave a soft chuckle and playfully rolled her eyes. The sound of her chiming chortle made Bella grin self deprecatingly.

"Alright, refresher then. The Volturi are some of the strongest vampires currently known and alive. They are one of the largest and most powerful vampire covens around. They enforce the laws of our kind. Their coven is even larger than our own, and they're known for frequently recruiting vampires with special powers to their palace in Italy. They've been out to have me, Jasper, and Edward for years now, and we keep saying no, and there's a good reason for that," Alice explained, which only confused Bella further.

Ah…

It was coming back to her now that Alice had charged her memory. She recalled that Edward had told her mostly the same, leaving out the part about the Volturi wanting him and some of his siblings, but she did not forget the grave look on his face as he spoke of them.

That was fairly interesting and all, but why was any of this relevant?

"Okay, but what do they have to do with Victoria?" she cocked her head. "And why do they want you guys so badly?"

"I'm getting to that," Alice said patiently. "They want us for our powers of course. Seeing the future, reading minds, and controlling people's emotions are very valuable assets. Victoria is one of their scouts, for a lack of a better word. She is not from Lansing, Michigan. She was born almost five hundred years ago in London, England, and her name is Victoria Sutherland, not Victoria Rosa."

Stunned, Bella's jaw dropped.

"She's almost _five hundred_ years old?" she gawked. "I got macked on by a woman that's almost half a millennium old?"

Maybe that was missing the point, but still. Victoria was _old_. She knew vampires were technically immortal, but still. Maybe she should be flattered, not gob smacked. Victoria was a beautiful, sexy, nearly five hundred year old vampire, and yet she had sought Bella out. It was frightening at the same time that it stroked her self esteem.

But this was not the time to be thinking like that.

Alice wrinkled her nose and shrugged. "There are vampires far older than her in the Volturi, Bella. Anyway, the Volturi are the ones who sent Victoria here."

"But _why_?" Bella asked, not getting any of this. "Are they trying to use her to convince you guys to join the Volturi? You're not, are you?"

Her last question was asked with wariness…If the Cullens joined with the Volturi, surely they would have to leave Forks, and that honestly terrified her.

If the Cullens left, then so would Alice, and that was something she _really_ didn't want to think about.

"No," Alice asserted. "I just told you we wouldn't, and for a good reason. Bella, they haven't sent Victoria to recruit _us_. They've tried too many times to bother. They've sent her to recruit _you_."

Bella stared, waiting for the _Just kidding_ after that, but Alice did not waver. She gazed back stoically, clearly not joking.

"What the fuck?" Bella finally threw up her hands. "_Why_? Alice, I don't understand-"

"Let me elaborate, Bells. Just, let me explain, okay? You can ask questions when I finish, alright?" Alice suggested gently, catching onto Bella's frustration.

Might as well do it that way. Bella was only getting more and more perplexed the more Alice talked.

"Thank you," Alice smiled lightly at her, then grew serious again. "Bella, the Volturi keep tabs on every coven of three or more because the larger a vampire coven, the more risk there is of being revealed to the outside world. Our family is unusually large at seven, and so they check in frequently on us. They know that Edward told you what we are, and they already weren't happy about that, but they're still holding out hope we'll change our minds and join them so they have let it be so long as you don't tell anyone else. And you haven't, thank God."

Bella pulled a pillow in front of her and held it self-consciously, trying her best to follow.

"Not revealing ourselves to humans is one of the biggest rules there is, and we already broke that. But Bella, they know about what your bite is capable of," Alice admitted to her. "They heard all about what happened when you bit me and what it did. And…And they don't like it, Bella. They don't like the idea that there's someone out there who can weaken a vampire so completely. The Volturi are power hungry if nothing else, and honey, your bite strips us of our power totally. I didn't even have visions when I was recovering."

Surprised at that revelation, Bella made to interrupt, but remembered that she was not supposed to, and Alice continued, sounding unhappy about everything she was saying.

_The Volturi know what I can do?_ She wondered. _And they don't like it?_

"So they sent Victoria out here to find out more about it. That's what she was doing at the house when you first met her. She was laying down the law to us, and there's not really anything we can do about it. We can't just tell her to get lost. Defying the Volturi is a really bad idea. She enrolled in school to keep an eye on all of us, but mostly you. And…And that's why Carlisle really needed you to bite someone else. The Volturi are pushing for more information, for more knowledge about what you're capable of, and…The results are what will make them decide what to do about it in the end."

At this, Bella could no longer keep quiet. The way Alice had put it sounded entirely too foreboding, and she was starting to get a supremely bad feeling about all of it.

"Why do they have to _do_ anything about it?" she questioned hotly, beginning to become overwhelmed.

Who did these people think they were, barging in on to their affairs like they had a right to know?

"Really, why do they care so much? I'm just-I'm just human. It's not like I'm going to go around trying to chomp on them or something."

Alice grimaced and she shifted around on the bed, letting one leg fall over the edge in her movements.

"Bella, I don't know how else to say it. They care because they're the kind of people who want absolute and total control. The continuation of our kind _depends_ on that control. And _you_ are a wild card. Your bite can make us human, Bella, and being human is one of their greatest fears," Alice elaborated.

"But it can't _really_ make you human, can it? Rosalie's getting back to herself, slowly but surely, right? And you're all vamp again, too. So what are they freaking out about? So my mouth does some weird stuff to you guys, but it's not permanent or anything. Why is it such a big deal?" Bella protested, getting more and more uneasy.

Knowing that there was a group of very powerful vampires out there who would do anything to keep their laws followed that was spying on her, 'keeping an eye on her' Alice had said, made her feel _violated_.

_That's_ what Victoria was doing here. She was _spying_ on Bella. She was collecting information about her and feeding it to some very scary people who Alice seemed to believe did not appreciate her biting of vampires, whatever the reasons may have been for it.

"That's how it works _now_, when you _are_ human Bella. But what if that changed? What if it works differently on certain vampires and makes them human for longer periods of time? What if it has side effects that strip special powers from us that we don't know about yet? And what if you were turned, Bella? Everything is intensified and exaggerated once you become a vampire. All your old characteristics and abilities become strengthened, like mine and Edward's intuition or Jasper's empathy. What if you become a vampire, and then when you bite someone it _is_ permanent?" Alice fired off the possibilities, the worries the Volturi must have expressed to her at some point.

Bella fell silent, unable to combat the slippery slope fallacy. She pulled at the stray thread on her tank top anxiously, and Alice softened at the plain anxiety on her face.

"And what if someone tried to use you against them? In the Volturi's mind, Bella, if you're not with them, then by default, you are against them…" Alice went on, every word just making it all so much worse.

"Why would I ever be changed into one of you?" Bella finally managed a response. "I'm not dating Edward anymore, and we only ever talked about that because we thought we'd be together forever…"

Ha, what a riot. Yeah fucking right.

But Alice hesitated again at this question.

"Because. The Volturi won't let you know of vampires forever once they finally get it into their heads that we're not interested in joining them. And so they'll stop playing nice, and demand we do something about the human we informed. And according to the law, that means changing you into one of us so that you abide by our laws, or…Or…"

Alice seemed to be struggling, and Bella felt her stomach dip.

"Or what, Alice?"

Alice looked directly into her eyes, took a deep breath and said, "Or they'll demand that we kill you."

_What?_

Bella inhaled sharply at that, and Alice rushed forward.

"But _that_ is not happening no matter what. No way in hell. I'll change you myself before I let them try and execute you, or let anyone else touch you. This is what I meant, Bella. This stuff is _serious_. You can see the dilemma they're experiencing. They want you as a bargaining chip, but that won't last forever, and they're afraid of what you might be able to do if you ever become a vampire…"

_If_ she was changed was suddenly starting to sound a whole lot like _when_ she was changed.

"Why have you never told me any of this before?" she demanded abruptly, her internal panic starting to mix with anger. "That-You guys never told me anything about the fact that I wasn't supposed to know!"

Alice grimaced at her and wrung her hands. "I know, Bella, I know! But it wasn't my place to tell you. Carlisle and Esme expressly asked me to keep it quiet because we didn't want to scare you, and technically it was Edward's responsibility to inform you because he's the one that told you in the first place."

"So you thought it was better for me to just walk around, la-ti-da, oblivious to the fact that there's practically a hit out on me by some of the strongest vampires on the planet?" Bella's voice rose and she jumped off the bed, desperate to move, to pace as her nerves shot through the roof.

_This isn't happening. This is crazy_, she thought. _Alice is crazy! What did I ever do to these Volturi guys? I didn't do anything! I'm not running around willy nilly, snapping my teeth at any vampire that comes around! If I had it my way, I'd never bite another vampire again! It's not like it's good for my health here either when they're making me orgasm in front of half my school!_

"Were you ever going to tell me or were you just going to do it one day when I wasn't looking?" Bella hurled the accusation, on the verge of hysteria. "Kill me or bite me when I was sleeping next to you or Edward one night?"

She knew she should stop talking while she had the chance. She was speaking out of anger and fear, and that never ended well. She regretted her choice of words the instant they left her mouth.

"_No_!" Alice snapped and lunged to her feet, eyes blazing so much that Bella froze mid pacing. "What do you think I'm doing _now_? How could you _ever_ ask me that? _Please_ tell me you don't really believe that I would _ever_ hurt you that way, that I would _kill_ you, Bella! Do you really think-"

"I don't know!" Bella cried and squeezed her midriff, her throat closing as Alice went up in arms at her unjust assault.

She knew Alice would never do anything like that to her, but damn it, she was scared.

"You don't _know_?" Alice's voice was thick with disbelief and hurt. She swelled like an irate bull frog and when she opened her mouth to yell, Bella hurried to stop it.

"Don't! _Please_ don't. That's not what I meant. I didn't mean to say that. I'm just freaked out, Alice, I didn't mean that. You know I didn't. I know you would never hurt me-never _kill_ me or bite me…Just…Why didn't you tell me before? _Why_ didn't you tell me all of this the second you found out what the Volturi were doing?" she pleaded and Alice deflated like a balloon pricked by a needle, the air whooshing out of her as frustrated tears began to gather in her eyes.

Fighting with Alice was like a one way ticket to Sobville, if she were honest with herself. It would be better not to act in the heat of the moment and throw blame around because she was confused and frightened, when she knew Alice was the one who was here to help, to protect her as best as she could, not act on some psycho coven's orders to change her or take her life to follow their bullshit laws.

"Because I _couldn't_, Bella. I'm still not supposed to," Alice answered immediately, her voice as beseeching for Bella's understanding as Bella's was of hers. "The Volturi wanted you in the dark about this so that you would be more compliant, but I couldn't-_can't_ do it anymore. You need to know what's going on. It's not fair to play with your life like that, and you deserve to know. You _need_ to know."

'Ignorance is bliss' felt like a good life motto right about now, but Bella knew that it wasn't, not really. Though the bomb Alice had dropped on her was huge, she could not find any more outrage towards Alice in her heart.

Alice had not kept things from her because she thought Bella shouldn't know or thought she was too weak to know. She had only done it because she had thought she had no choice, but now she was telling Bella everything because she knew Bella wanted, deserved, and needed to know.

And so Bella did not resent her, and already regretted her rash reaction.

Because Alice was the one person standing before her, revealing everything. Alice was the one who was always there for her, always looking out for her, always had her back, always wanted to make sure Bella was as safe as could be, and always, _always_ put Bella first, Volturi be damned.

Alice was not the enemy here, and Bella felt ashamed for jumping on her like that.

"I'm sorry, Alice. I'm sorry, I just-This is a really big deal…When you said life or death, you really meant it," Bella groaned and rubbed at her forehead, stomach queasy.

_The Volturi want me dead, or a vampire. And they really don't seem to be feeling the vampire thing at the moment_, she agonized. _Great. Just freaking great._

Getting off in front of everyone at school was suddenly no more bothersome than stubbing her toe compared to this.

"It's okay, Bella," Alice forgave her immediately. "And I did. I told you this was serious. I know it's a lot to drop on you at once but…But you need to know. You can't…You can't react properly or get through something when you don't even know what's happening. Trust me. I rely on my visions so much that sometimes when they fail me I can barely cope," Alice replied, her tone back at a gentle pitch. She stepped forward and peered into Bella's eyes, trying to catch them.

"I just don't understand how you see the best in people yet still assume the worst of their intentions, Bella. I would never, _ever_ do something like that to you. And I _will not_ let them hurt you. Look at me, Bella. I mean it. No one's going to hurt you. I'm right here, and I am not going to let that happen," Alice vowed the moment Bella finally met her eyes. "And neither will my family."

Bella felt even worse for assuming that Alice was wrong in all of this. She really wasn't. All she was trying to do was the best that she could.

"How can you stop them?" Bella muttered skeptically. "You said they were the most powerful vampires around…"

"I don't know yet, but I will find a way. I swear I will Bella. I got you into this mess, and I will get you out of it. I'm going to fix this, whatever it takes. It's all going to be okay. It's going to work out fine, I promise," Alice murmured with total conviction, so sure of herself that Bella could not help but relax.

There was no use going back to that old argument of who caused Bella to bite Alice and whose fault it really was, so Bella didn't bother.

Alice always found a way. She always found the words to make it better. She always found the path that led to the happy ending. She always figured out what to do to make it all right. Bella stared at her best friend, feeling the warmth of her words reassure her in a way that only Alice could.

"Besides," Alice continued in a lighter voice when Bella visibly eased. "I don't think they want that any more than we do, Bella. I told you how power hungry they are. You're a weapon as much as a threat. Most vampires despise the idea of being human as well, and what could be a better punishment than bestowing that on them? Like I said, Victoria's here to _recruit_ you if she gets the chance Bella. All the Volturi are really doing right now is testing the waters and gathering data. Their interest is piqued, but they're not salivating at the mouth over you. Nothing is set in stone. So please don't believe you've got a death threat looming over you or anything, because you don't, and even if you did, I'd get rid of that threat anyway."

As usual, Alice found all the right words to say to make Bella's panic go from a hundred to zero in a just a few seconds, and she smiled genuinely at the protective note in Alice's tone.

"So…Why does Victoria have to molest me in the meantime?" Bella inquired slowly, still sensing holes in the explanation.

Alice scowled and grumbled under her breath.

"She _doesn't_. Victoria is after you because she's a bitch and you smell good. She'd bite you and drag you back to Italy to be her plaything given half a chance. She's not a very nice person, Bella, and half the time she's more interested in bleeding out the people she's supposed to be 'recruiting' than actually doing what she's supposed to. Her control is limited because she feeds on humans. That's why her eyes are red and gold both. The only reason the Volturi keep her around is because of her unusual propensity to survive and persuade when she's not doing whatever she feels like doing," Alice groused, clearly annoyed at the thought of Victoria.

Well, it just kept getting better and better.

Not only were the Volturi trying to recruit her or whatever the fuck, but the person they'd sent out for recon could barely keep it in her pants around Bella, not to mention she had a nasty habit of drinking human blood.

Crap.

"Why does she want me so badly?" Bella complained. "I'm nothing special, I just smell a little better than most people."

"Because she also has a nasty hobby of liking to fire people up, as you already know. She does it because she wants you, but also just because she knows it pisses me off," Alice growled. "And because she knows I can barely do anything outright about it because she's got the Volturi backing her."

Another thought occurred to Bella, one that she was much more sensitive about broaching.

"Alice…" she began uncertainly and the pixie perked at her tone. "That's all really fucked up and everything, and I think I understand even if it is freaking crazy and stupidly unbelievable, but…How did all that make you say what you did in the car, about us not hanging out anymore?"

Her heart twitched anxiously at the tentative question she had put to Alice, but the vampire only sighed and gazed at her with gentle golden eyes.

"That, Bella? Honey, that's a whole different story, at the same time that it's not."

Well that just made oodles of sense, didn't it?

Bella waited for more, and Alice sighed another soft sigh and rubbed lightly at one arm, shifting on her feet. Her attitude stirred something light and fluttery inside Bella, that both made her nervous and excited at the same time.

"Bella, do you really need to ask? You're not an oblivious or unaware person," Alice reckoned.

Bella wasn't sure how to respond to that, but in a moment of clarity, she understood what exactly Alice was getting at, and it made her stomach dip lower than it should. The reality of the situation really hit her then; Alice was pretty much asking her to acknowledge the fact that maybe they were harboring feelings for each other that were a little too friendly.

It took all her courage to reply.

"Alice, is all this because of what happened in your kitchen?" Bella asked nervously, gnawing the inside of her cheek.

"Yes," Alice answered without hesitation in her characteristically fearless manner. "Bella…"

Bella really hated when Alice took that tone with her. That tone that said she was holding back, because she knew whatever she was going to say might hurt or upset the brunette. She knew it far too well by now. In fact, Alice had been using it since the moment she had popped into Bella's room today.

"You know what happened as well as I do, honey…" Alice said slowly, and it was hard to keep eye contact with the vampire anymore after that declaration.

Bella did. It was admitting the fact of the situation to herself that was the hard part, not understanding it.

"We…" Bella swallowed, finding it hard to speak. "We almost…" She couldn't get the words out. What if she really had been imagining the way Alice had looked at her, as if she were a second away from pressing her mouth to Bella's? And Bella felt a miserable stirring inside as she acknowledged to herself that she wanted her imagination to be right?

"We almost kissed," Alice finished for her, bypassing any of Bella's denial or beating around that god damned bush she liked to hide behind so much.

So much for her imagining it all in her head. Apparently, Alice had taken the situation the same way she had.

_I don't know if that's a talent of hers, or a curse_, Bella thought to herself, tensing now that it was verbalized out in the air.

Alice was watching her with her cautious, measuring saffron eyes gauging Bella. Bella stared back warily, her heart beginning to thump faster inside her chest.

"We almost kissed, Bella, and that's part of why I said we needed to spend some time apart. I'll say it again, Bells. It's different now that we both like girls, and you know it. I know you've felt the way things have shifted between us, and honey, it's shifting in a dangerous sort of way," Alice said bluntly and when Bella hunched her shoulders, she took a step towards her.

A dangerous sort of way, huh? Trepidation filled Bella and she did not reply, too anxious to know where Alice was going with all of this.

"You can't tell me you aren't feeling things for me you probably shouldn't, Bella…" Alice went on, and Bella shrank further, throat tightening.

So Alice definitely knew her feelings were slightly more than platonic.

Shit.

No. No, she couldn't tell her that she wasn't feeling things for that she probably shouldn't, and it killed her.

She also couldn't tell Alice how much she hated her ability to be so relentless with the truth of the matter. It was useless trying to deny it, so Bella gave a noncommittal shrug, the best she could manage.

"What I told you in the car was not to put everything on you, though. When I say we're getting too close for comfort, I mean _both_ of us are. Honey, I won't lie to you. You are an amazing, beautiful girl, Bella, and we spend so much time together that there is no way I can't recognize that. You're not the only guilty one here. I shouldn't behave around you the way that I do sometimes, and the fact that we came _that_ close in the kitchen…Do you understand how big of a mistake that would have been, Bella?"

Yes, she did. There were a million reasons why their lips should never be that close, why their eyes shouldn't lock like that, and why they should not be pressed up against each other, quivering with so much tension.

One of the biggest reasons Bella knew was because Alice was with _Jasper_, and if they kissed without the influence of pheromones or the biting or any of that, then it was an entirely different matter, and Bella did not ever want to do that to him. Already he was more distant towards her when it was justifiable in a way, but if Bella did that…

If Alice were to _cheat_ on him because of _her_?

It made her sick to think of getting between them like that, of causing what would undoubtedly be a terrible rip between them. If they had kissed in the kitchen, that would have undeniably been cheating.

Bella didn't say any of that, though, because she didn't have to. They both knew it, and so she only nodded helplessly, helpless to the feeling that even though she knew how wrong it would be of them to act on the feelings they were clearly having that it still excited her more than anything else really ever had, especially because Alice was telling her that she felt it, too.

_I like her_, Bella realized, a sinking, soaring feeling warring in the pit of her gut. _Son of a bitch. I like her. I like her, and _not_ as just a friend. _

And that was a very, _very_ bad place to be with your taken best friend.

"You know you're my best friend, right?" Alice inquired gently, sensing Bella's increasing distress.

"Always," Bella answered reflexively, and then blushed at how soft Alice's smile was, how tender.

_Damn it_, she internally swore.

Damn.

_Damn. _

Bella was going to punch every single one of her friends the next time she saw them, for putting these thoughts in her head, for making her notice how close she and Alice really were, for forcing her to acknowledge how much she appreciated Alice, in so many ways, ways that she probably shouldn't.

Like physically.

Like emotionally.

Like desperately, adoringly, with her heart pounding, skin tingling, mind racing.

"And…And you know that's all we can be, right Bella? That that is all we're ever going to be? I don't think I should have to say it, but we need this to be as clear as possible…" Alice added, sounding as if she were doing her very best to let Bella down easy, even though Bella had never known she was up where she needed to be let down in the first place.

Her statement made the fluttery feeling in her heart collapse, and she breathed in deeply, heavily.

"Yeah, I _know_ that. Alice, I never meant to make you think I wanted anything more. I mean, you-You're right, when you say we're feeling things we shouldn't. I think you were right to say we needed some time apart. It-Things are different now, but I wouldn't ever-I would never-"

Never risk their friendship like that? Never make such an idiotic mistake as to hope for anything more?

She didn't even want anything more, did she? All she really wanted was to be Alice's best friend, and she had that. She didn't want these stupid feelings.

It was unsurprising that as soon as Bella admitted to herself what her heart was determinedly experiencing that Alice had to smash it, though. There was a tightening sensation in her chest that she couldn't explain.

"I know, Bella. I don't mean to make it sound like you were coming on to me or anything, or like it's one sided when it's not, and I'm glad you're not taking any of this the wrong way," Alice said, understanding what she was trying to get across, which was a relief. "Us taking some time to ourselves was for me as much as it was for you. But making sure neither of us gets the wrong idea or too ahead of ourselves wasn't the only reason I said what I did, and definitely not the reason I said it _when_ I did."

"Well then why _did_ you say it when you did? Seriously man, that was some crap timing," Bella chose to settle on the easiest part of that.

"I told you that Victoria likes to do things purely for the sake of pissing people off, right?" Alice raised one eyebrow, already looking annoyed just having to say the redhead's name.

"Yes."

"Well, trying to antagonize me has become one of her favorite pastimes since she got here, and she's noticed all the things we just talked about. She knows how close we are, and part of why she's out for you is to try and get to me," Alice informed her, her voice hardening as she spoke about it.

Surprised, Bella replied, "So she's coming onto me so much because she doesn't like you or something? What's her deal with you?"

At this, Alice smiled a tight smile and scoffed, shaking her head.

"Because," she said. "I rejected her. More than once. She's one of the ones they've used to try and recruit us before, and every time she thinks she can seduce me. I told her outright this time to piss off, and now she's being bitter. Victoria doesn't take well to rejection. It's kind of a win-win situation for her. You smell fantastic, you're attractive and easy prey, and she gets to agitate me all at the same time. So that's why I was in such a rush to get the air clear between us, and especially because if she catches on to our, er…Inappropriate feelings, then she'll really be out for you. I thought if she saw space growing between us that she would back off."

Fat chance of that. Victoria hadn't backed off, not really. Bella knew that because of how the redhead always looked at her with hungry eyes, and how she had rolled her hips in the hallway.

"Why are the Volturi okay with her? How have they not gotten rid of her yet? She's obviously more detrimental to this recruiting crap than helpful," Bella frowned, rubbing at the back of her neck uncomfortably.

So Victoria wanted Alice, and couldn't have her, and so she had switched to Bella to spite the tiny vampire and get her kicks out of Bella's blood at the same time?

Well, shit.

That was certainly disconcerting.

"Like I said, Bells. She's very persuasive when she wants to be, as you may have noticed, and that's a skill the Volturi require. She has a way of getting what she wants from people, and that's why I warned you away from her so much," Alice said, sounding entirely annoyed about it.

"I see," Bella groaned. "Well, what now? What am I supposed to do about all this Alice?"

Her life was getting really crazy lately.

"Don't worry about any of it," Alice told her. "I'll take care of it, I promise. I'll keep you up to date, and I'll make sure nothing happens to you. You're not being bitten, or anything else. I'll keep Victoria and the Volturi off your back, whatever it takes. I only told you all of this because you deserved to know, and because you needed to, not to worry you, Bella."

Don't worry about it?

How the hell was she supposed to do _that_?

"Won't you get in trouble for telling me all this? Didn't you say you weren't supposed to?" Bella inquired worriedly, narrowing her eyes when Alice made a face at her.

"Sort of. There will be consequences, and I accept that. It won't be a big deal, though," she hurriedly added when Bella looked alarmed.

"Consequences? What kind of consequences? They're not going to punish you, are they?" Bella demanded, worry for Alice taking over anything else instantly.

She wouldn't get in trouble for this would she? Surely not? Not just for telling Bella what was going on?

"No, no, Bella, calm down," Alice laughed lightly and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "It's nothing big. I'll probably just get like, a stern talking to or something. Seriously, don't worry about it."

Bella found it highly unreasonable of Alice to continue to ask her not worry about any of this, but before she could open her mouth to say so, Alice's phone rang.

The familiar sound of her own laughter chimed out of Alice's pocket, coupled with an embarrassing snorting.

"You made that your ringtone?" Bella gasped, outraged and cheeks flaming immediately. It was the audio of a recording Alice had taken of her on her phone when they had hung out the previous weekend, when the vampire had made her laugh so hard that she couldn't stop for five minutes straight (something about a time when Emmett went skinny dipping in a Florida swamp and got bitten on the ass by an irate alligator).

"Yes," Alice smirked, eyes twinkling shamelessly. She winked when Bella gawked at her, and then slipped her phone out of her pocket to answer.

Little minx!

Bella glared at her, half amused and half embarrassed. _Change it_, she mouthed at her friend and Alice snickered back, but only for a moment.

"Hello?" she answered. It took only one second for the grin to slip off her face. "Yes, okay. Yeah, I got that. I'll be there in a minute…I said I would, and so I will, alright? Where else would I go anyway? Okay-Fine. _Fine_, I'm leaving now. Goodbye," Alice snapped and abruptly hung up the phone, looking irritated.

"Who was that?" Bella questioned, surprised at the viciousness of the call.

"Nobody. Look, Bella, I gotta go, okay? I'm sorry to leave so suddenly, but it's important," Alice declared, her playful demeanor gone without a trace.

_If that was nobody, why is it so important?_ Bella wondered, confused.

"Um…Okay. It's fine, go do what you gotta do. I need to get started on some homework anyway, so," Bella shrugged it off, not having the energy to pursue it after all that they had already talked about. Alice looked harried, and it wasn't really any of her business anyway.

"Thanks," Alice smiled at her gratefully, but it did not reach her eyes. "But hey, we're all good right? Everything's clear, and you're okay with everything we talked about?"

That was a loaded question if nothing else, and Bella answered before she could second guess herself and say something stupid.

"Yeah, totally. Everything's fine."

"You're sure?" Alice pressed.

The way Alice gazed at her then said everything she did not have to say aloud. Bella knew what she was really asking was, _You know we're just friends right? Even though we might feel more than we should, it'll never happen? You know I'm your best friend, but I don't like you like that, not really? You know we have to let all of that go, and move on, right? You know that, don't you? _

But knowing it and being okay with it were two different things and Bella was still trying to process the feelings in the first place.

So all she said was, "Yes, I'm sure Alice. Everything's fine. I mean, sort of, but you get what I'm saying."

Alice nodded, and Bella started when the vampire's pocket rang with her laughter again, another phone call incoming. Alice promptly reached into her pocket, pressed a button, and the call was stopped.

"You have to change that," Bella ordered and the corners of Alice's lips quirked up despite the annoyed look she wore at it going off again.

"Not a chance," Alice chuckled, and without warning, she leaned in, slung her arms around Bella's neck and squeezed her close.

Caught off guard the same way she had been before, Bella blushed and quickly put one hand on Alice's waist and the other around her, hugging her awkwardly as she tried not to inhale too much of that lovely aroma.

"Bye, Bells. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? By the way, you can call me later if you need help on that Algebra homework, weenie," Alice murmured to her ear, and Bella was startled by the sudden, forceful throb her heart gave at the vampire's soft, high voice.

_Oh shit, I've got it bad_, she mourned.

Angela, Jessica, Mike, and Eric were all getting coal from her this Christmas for being right.

"Bye, Alice. Jerk," she chuckled, ignoring the way her lungs rattled when she breathed, and the way Alice's hair tickled the side of her face as they embraced.

With that, Alice slid off of her, gave her one last lingering smile, then blurred over to the window and slipped out of her bedroom with only the sigh and click of the window pane shutting behind her.

Bella sighed and rubbed at her forehead, feeling a headache coming on at all the new information swirling around it.

So.

The ultra powerful vampire police, the Volturi, were spying on her because she could bite vampires and make them human. Almost. And they had sent some crazy, sex hungry, blood thirsty, woman to see how all that would pan out, who wanted her for her blood and sex as much as she wanted her to spite her best friend for turning her down.

And not only that, she now had a crush on that best friend.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

"Whatever," Bella griped and threw up her hands.

Maybe Alice was right. What good was it to worry about any of it when there was nothing she could do? She ended up just flopping back down on her bed and closing her eyes, exhausted from the day's events.

She lay there, stewing in the mess her life had become for longer than she intended to. Twilight faded fast to nighttime, and before she knew it, Bella became drowsy, and then she was falling asleep.

She couldn't do that, though. She really did need to get her Algebra homework done. She was starting to fall behind. Her shaky B was slipping to a C in that godforsaken class, and so she dragged herself back up, wondering why knowing how to graph a polynomial function meant anything in the grand scheme of things. How would that ever help her deal with _vampires_?

It wouldn't, but at least it gave her a reason to call Alice. She felt guilty as she did so, dialing Alice's number while she stared blankly at her textbook, not getting any of the shit in it, like she shouldn't.

It was all for naught, however, because Alice did not pick up, and Bella was surprised when she never even called back…And maybe in the end that was for the best, that Alice did not pick up. After all, Bella knew now that she needed to control whatever feelings she was having for her friend before they ruined them.

Yet her heart and her brain were not on the same page. In fact, it was starting to look like they might be reading an entirely different story…

* * *

Alice walked through the forest behind her house, shirtless and in nothing but a simple black lace bra and a pair of ratty old, ripped at the knees jeans that she had found stuffed in the darkest corner of her highly stylish and fashionable closet. She did not feel the cool Winter breeze that stirred the equally naked tops of the tree branches around her, but she swore she could feel every next step weighing her down to the earth just a little more.

Victoria was walking in front of her, and the redhead glanced over her shoulder at her and smiled a feral smile her way, one that made her fangs glint in the moonlight pouring down over them. Even without vampiric sight, the brightness of it made everything clear as day. The promise of pain in those cruel eyes made Alice purse her lips and stare back as stoically as she could manage.

It was not that she was afraid. She supposed she should be, but Alice had felt pain before, and quite a lot of it. She was sure nothing would ever hurt quite so much as her transformation into a vampire, where only Hell itself could come close.

And yet…

Dread still consumed her when they entered the designated clearing, where the trees were far apart and the dirt hard packed beneath her bare feet. She halted just within the perimeter of it, swallowing the venom that had pooled instinctively in her mouth due to her heightened state of emotion. Victoria continued forward and stopped in the middle, next to another vampire who was even shorter than herself. The smaller vampire leaned against a five foot tall post sticking up out of the ground. Victoria turned around and sneered back at her.

Alice gazed back, unflinching.

She would not cow tow to that bitch. No way. She would not cower or look away, give Victoria the satisfaction of seeing her nerves show through. She could not afford to show weakness, and she desperately tried to convince herself that she _wasn't_ weak, that she could take what she was about to get.

Alice had known the consequences of her actions. She had known what she was getting herself into, and done it willingly. She had lied to Bella. The punishment she was about to receive would be much more than a mere 'stern talking to.'

But she did not regret it, and that was what made it easier to meet Victoria's eyes.

For Bella. She had done it for Bella, she reminded herself. And so it would be worth it, no matter how much this was going to hurt.

For Bella…

She stirred only when she felt a hand on her bare shoulder, and slumped when she felt soothing vibes flow into her like ocean waves, lapping at her tension like a purring kitten, like a parent's comforting embrace.

Jasper.

She looked to her side and found him staring down at her with oil slick eyes and dilated pupils, black on black. The worry in his face was even more than any she might ever feel for herself, and not for the first time did she feel shame well up in her at his concern.

He loved her. He loved her with all his heart, and she knew it. How could she ever not? She had been with Jasper for fifty years, five decades of her life, and even now she still wore the ring he had placed on her finger the day they wed, a physical representation of all that he felt for her.

And he still the wore ring she had placed on his.

Alice loved him, too. She did. She honestly, truly did. She was _in_ love with him. Of course she was. It was just…Lately, there had been some interference in the airwaves, diverting her, confusing her. It was not uncommon for vampires to stray from each other. Forever really meant forever when you were immortal, but when they truly loved each other, they did not really leave or cheat or go to someone else.

But…

But then there was Bella.

Alice had not expected to be so enamored with the young girl, the young woman. Bella was eighteen, and she had soft chocolate hair and a heart shaped face, with big brown doe eyes and a kindness in her soul, a genuine humanity to her that Alice had never seen in anyone else. And Bella was intelligent and funny, and so easy to talk to, and Bella understood her when she felt like no one else did, never judged her, and they could talk for hours or never say anything at all and still get each other either way.

Bella was like no one she had ever met before. She had never met someone in her long life that interested her so much. Even Jasper had not clicked with her like that, at least not so well so fast. No one ever had.

Save for Bella…

And when Bella had bitten her, it had triggered her instincts, her want and desire so powerfully that she could not admit to herself how strong it really was. Bella had not created the desire then, only made her see how deep it really went. And it had terrified her, more than anyone really knew, that she had almost really, _really_ hurt the girl when she bit her back. If she had still had her fangs…

God. She couldn't stand to think about it.

Alice knew she liked Bella. She had lived too long to bother with trivial things like denial. It was best to acknowledge the truth as fast as she could, so then she could deal with it.

But she loved Jasper. She loved Jasper, and pursuing any of whatever she felt for Bella was idiotic, foolish, and wrong. There were a million reasons why; Jasper, the fact that that could easily break their friendship anyway, that Bella could be emotionally and physically destroyed…Just. No.

She did not need to linger on Bella because of a simple infatuation because of her baser vampiric instincts and a mild school-girl crush. It was unrealistic and stupid, and Bella was nothing more than a friend, not what Jasper was. So she may have been distant lately, and Jasper probably knew why, and yet he still stood her beside her, gazing at her with devotion and fierce protectiveness in his eyes, not caring, still loving her.

So she would get over it. She would ignore whatever she might feel for Bella until it went away, and Bella would get over whatever she might feel for her too, and they would all move on and deal with the real issue…

Victoria, and the Volturi.

"We can still stop this, Alice," Jasper murmured to her, softly so that Victoria and Jane, the small blond vampire who was also an emissary from the Volturi, could not hear them. "We can run. We can even fight. You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do," Alice smiled gently at him, trying to ease his fears. "You know we can't do either of those things, Jasper. It'll be okay, sweetheart. I'll be fine."

For Bella, she had to. For Bella, because she had gotten the innocent human into this by tickling her and starting the snowball effect. And just because they were only friends did not mean Alice wouldn't do anything to keep that sweet girl safe.

Bella didn't deserve this danger, or the heartache. So Alice would do this for her, for both of them.

Victoria smirked right at her and slowly slipped the whip coiled on her hip into her hand. It was thickly braided steel wire, cords of it wrapped around each other tightly, and the silver of it gleamed lethally. Victoria let it unfurl and it brushed across the ground. It glittered curiously in the moonlight, as beautiful as it was foreboding. Tiny but wickedly sharp diamonds were embedded in the steel cords, the only mineral hard enough to breach a vampire's skin.

But damn, was it going to hurt.

"Don't be stupid, Jasper," Rosalie muttered on Alice's other side, hovering and watching Victoria with cold eyes. "Alice knows what she's doing…Or does she?"

Alice really wasn't in the mood for Rosalie's judgment, but she got it anyway.

"Rose…"

"You didn't have to tell her, Alice," Rosalie growled as Jane said something that made Victoria toss her head back and laugh. It made Alice's inner vampire bristle anxiously, but she fought it back.

"Yes, I did," Alice hissed. "Don't start with me. She needed to know."

"No, she _didn't_," Rosalie snapped. "You-"

"Rosalie."

Esme had appeared behind them, and so did Carlisle and Emmett. She stopped Rosalie's inevitable tirade with the sharp tone of her voice, and Alice was unbelievably grateful. The blond scoffed and stepped back, and Alice had to breathe in deeply despite the lack of a need for oxygen when Esme put a maternal hand against her cheek in her stead.

She appreciated the gesture, but the motherly worry in Esme's eyes only made her feel worse, and so she could only grimace back, and Esme's hand slipped away.

"Come now, Alice, time's wasting away here. We've got plenty of it, surely, but it's time to face the consequences of your actions," Victoria called, sounding gleeful.

_Sadistic bitch_, Alice thought, and had to force herself to move away from the comfort of her unorthodox but loving family. When Jasper made to go with her, Victoria stopped him.

"Ah ah ah, little one. No one crosses the tree line. It's a precaution, you see. We can't afford the risk that one of you might do something stupid, like try to attack us when the punishment begins," Victoria gestured for him to step back. Alice heard him growl, but Emmett put a hand on his elbow and held him back.

Alice approached with her chin high, but it dipped and her jaw locked when Victoria's eyes raked over the swell of her breasts in nothing but the bra.

"That's a nice bra, Alice. If you want to keep it intact, though, you'll want to be taking it off," the redhead sneered lasciviously.

Disgust and annoyance flitted through her and she chose not to respond.

"Fine, have it your way. But it's going to come off, one way or another once we get started," Victoria shrugged.

"Can we just get this over with?" she snapped, ever aware of Jasper's rising voice and Esme's desperate hushing of him.

"Certainly," Jane interjected, speaking up. The tiny vampire was cloaked in formal black Volturi robes with the red satin interior, and when she pushed her hood back, her blood red eyes contrasted harshly with her pale blond hair.

Jane was small for a vampire. She had been changed just on the brink of childhood and was frozen at thirteen, just treading the line of breaking Volturi law when it came to creating immortal children. If not for her power to invoke unimaginable pain, they might have killed her anyway.

As it was…

Jane reached into the pocket of her robes and pulled out two items. One was a rolled up sheet of paper, another a large, unmarked aluminum can. She passed the can to Victoria, then lazily unrolled the paper and began to read from it.

"Mary Alice Brandon, aged one hundred and eight years old, hailing from the Cullen coven of Forks, Washington, you have been sentenced to a whipping of no less than thirty lashes by way of the Viper, to be administered by Victoria Sutherland on the night of November 15th, 2013 for the crimes of outright defiance of Volturi commands consisting of informing the human Isabella Swan of the nature of Volturi interests when you were expressly forbidden to do so, and for revealing vampire kind to said human," Jane droned, sounding bored and uninterested in every word.

"I didn't tell her about vampires!" Alice protested indignantly. "And you said if I told her it would be fifteen lashes, not _thirty_."

The Viper was the whip currently dangling from Victoria's hand, the primary tool the Volturi used to punish disobedient vampires. It was a renowned and world widely feared instrument of their power, and for good reason.

The redhead popped the top off the can and used two fingers to reach in and scoop a viscous looking substance with the consistency of jelly out of it. She took the substance and began to deliberately smear it all over the whip, coating it in a clear sheen. Alice recognized the substance as the Volturi's patented, perfected version of napalm. They had chemically altered the original product to better control its production of heat, and so that it would cling to the whip but not much else after the initial application. It was also mixed with vampire venom for an extra sting, and thus the name Viper. It gave her chills to know why it was going to be used.

"Oh well. That's just too bad for you, isn't it? We also told you not to tell the human what was going on, and you did it anyway. The Volturi do not take kindly to such blatant defiance. Your punishment has been adjusted accordingly," Jane replied, uncaring.

_Thanks, Eddie boy_, Alice thought sarcastically.

Victoria finished coating the whip and passed the can back to Jane, who slipped it back into her robes. The redhead then reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver cigarette lighter. She took a step back from them both and gripped the whip by its black hilt with the ruby threading with a hand covered in a thick black gauntlet. She held it away from her body, unceremoniously flicked the lighter to life and held the flame to the glistening thing.

It caught fire instantly.

Heat blossomed and Victoria hissed softly as dancing orange flames licked along the length of the whip, stopping halfway down its length, well away from her hand but still threatening. When the flames settled, they flickered only an inch up off the surface of the whip, yet they might have been a hundred feet high for the way Alice felt about them.

Fire…

No vampire was a friend of fire. Nothing else could hurt them quite like fire.

Her insides turned to squirming snakes when Victoria smiled at her, her hair shimmering like the now flaming whip, apparently relishing it.

"Alright then, sweet Alice. Let us commence. You will turn, kneel, and grip the post with both arms. If you stand or try to run, we are authorized to apply Jane's abilities to subdue you. If you or your family attempts to attack us, we are authorized to kill you. Do you understand?" Victoria commanded, her voice thick with excitement.

The woman was evil. Absolute and pure evil.

But Alice had no choice. Even though the heat radiating off the whip made her want to bolt, made everything inside her recoil, she could not.

_For Bella. For Bella, remember?_

So she turned around and bared her back to Victoria, going against her vampire instincts, and sank down to her knees. She folded her arms around the post and tried to pretend it was Jasper she wrapped her arms around, not the cold, unforgiving wood.

_I won't scream_, she thought. _I won't give her that satisfaction._

"I hope she was worth it, Alice. But, here's a little payback for when you slammed me up against that truck. You ripped my blouse that day," Victoria's voice floated down to her.

And with no further warning, the whip cracked out and lanced a line of fiery agony across the skin of her back.

Alice screamed.

She shot forward and braced her shoulder against the post, smothering the need to cry out. Her knees dug into the hard earth and she could feel the way her marble skin cracked apart. The whip moved too fast to set her aflame, but it turned the steel cording white hot and combined with the diamond inserts, it cut through her like a hot knife through butter, and hurt like nothing she could have expected.

_Oh god_, Alice whimpered. _That was only one. That was just the first one._

"Hurts, does it?" Victoria giggled behind her as Alice raked her nails along the post and thick lines of wood shavings came up under her fingernails. She was aware the Jasper was bellowing in the distance, but she had shut her eyes to combat the agony coursing through her and could not see him.

For Bella.

For _Bella_.

The pain was burning, throbbing, cutting, needles and knives and swords raking across her in one long line of agony. Her back became a raw nerve, and she felt the way her bra brushed the lash mark, broken apart as Victoria said it would. She didn't even care. All she wanted was the pain to stop.

"Screaming already, honey? But we're only just getting started," Victoria cooed. "If that's all it takes to make you scream, then maybe you really weren't worth my time anyway…"

Alice gritted her teeth and did her damnedest to straighten up against the post, wishing Victoria would just stop talking and _finish_ it. She clung to the post with everything she had, trying to ground herself. She had not expected it to hurt this much. She could not even find the ability to growl or bare her fangs when she felt Victoria sink down next to her and whispered softly in her ear.

"You know, Alice, all this whipping is getting me kind of hot…And it's giving me some ideas. You scream so sweetly, but I bet Isabella's are even sweeter. What do you think? Do you think if I took a whip to her that she'd scream for me? I bet she'd like it, don't you? She seems like that kind of a girl. I bet I could whip her bloody and she'd still beg me for more…" Victoria taunted. "I bet she'd beg me to _fuck_ her."

Rage dominated anything else at Victoria's words, that she would dare speak of Bella that way, and Alice found a surge of strength. She turned and stared right into Victoria's eyes, mouth wide open and hurting so badly that she could barely talk, but talk she did.

"She wouldn't fuck you even if you were the one begging her, and neither did I when you begged me, remember? So you might as well just go fuck yourself," she choked out and Victoria's face twisted with fury. For one brief moment, Alice almost wanted to laugh.

"Oh, you'll regret that one, sweetling. And I'll make sure to make you regret it again when I get my hands on that girl, too. Next time, you won't be there to pull me off of her. I'm coming for her Alice. I'm coming for her, and there is nothing you can do to stop me," Victoria vowed, hissed, and disappeared from her sight.

_Like hell you are_, Alice thought vehemently.

And yet she did regret talking back, because not a second later, Victoria went all in.

The whip cracked out, lashing her again and again and again, thirty blows cutting through her in ten seconds, and Alice screamed and screamed and screamed.

_For Bella. For Bella, for Bella, for Bella!_

For Bella…

* * *

_**I said I was going to scale it back, then promptly wrote over 15k words...Fuck. Yet there was so damn much that needed to be covered in this chapter before what happens in the next one. Generally, the whole scene with Alice would have been a chapter of its own after this one, but I'm really, really trying to finish before school starts back again. It will be twice as hard to update when it does, and so I'm trying to get it done. Think of it as like...Two chapters in one, I guess. I didn't want to do it this way, but yeah. **_

_**Anyway, some of you have really been digging Vicky, but I wonder if any of that changed after this chapter ;) People have been saying they like the spice Rosalie and Victoria add, and I do too, though my heart belongs to Bellice in the end. There will be more of that next chapter. I really wanted to do a scene from Alice's POV, so we could get a peak inside her mind and also to see how things are going on in the vampire world. **_

_**Even though I need to finish this before the end of August, tell me if this one was just a little too much in one go and I'll work on that. But still. You guys said you liked longer chapters, so I'll take your word for it ;)**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**This is over 17k words. What the fuck am I doing? HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?**_

* * *

Alice did not return to school for another three days after that incident, and when she and Bella talked on the phone, the pixie claimed it was because there were some issues being cleared up at home. When Bella asked if it had anything to do with the Volturi, Alice told her yes, but she didn't get much more than that. Though the weird air seemed to have been cleared between them Bella couldn't seem to shake the new feelings she had for Alice that she had been forced to acknowledge.

Yet, she was a little more preoccupied with the fact that she wouldn't get her best friend back at school to have her back for days. It was already enough of a pain without her and Bella had been expecting the sailing to be smoother now that she and Alice had made up, but that was not the case.

She did not have Alice to come to school and get in between her and all the prying eyes or the gossip, and she definitely did not have much of a buffer between herself and Victoria. Emmett and Jasper returned to the school and even though Bella still wasn't talking much to Jasper, the guy still seemed to be looking out for her. They shared the occasional polite greeting but not much else, but when Victoria passed by her in the halls and gave her those hungry eyes, he did not hesitate to step between them and block her from view while staring the redhead down until she walked away. Emmett did the same, but still…

Victoria had become a lot more persistent lately. She seemed to hover closer, and Bella consciously had to make the effort to avoid her eyes because they were always undressing her. A few times she actually bumped into Bella at a rare moment when Jasper or Emmett weren't around and blasted her dizzy with pheromones so that Bella was wet between the thighs for the rest of the day with the lingering scent of cinnamon, roses, and wine heavy in her head.

Bitch.

Emmett and Jasper were surely of some help, but it was always Alice that was always at her side, always knowing when and where to be to keep Bella out of the redhead's reach. Without her, Bella felt entirely vulnerable, and for the three days Alice remained absent, she desperately missed her.

She also desperately missed Alice for other reasons. Mostly because of her smile and her laugh and her eyes and her hugs and her scent, but she wasn't allowed to think about that.

On the evening of the third day after school without Alice, she was in one of those moods where all she could think about were the Volturi, Victoria, Alice, and Cassie and her crew and basically anything else bound to give her a headache when she had a visitor at her window that she had not had in quite some time…

She was quietly doodling on a sheaf of notebook paper and listening to music on her laptop when a soft tapping arose at her window. Bella quickly looked up, excited. Alice was at her window, and thus this night was about to hopefully become much less boring. (Hopefully not the way it had the last few times Alice had come through her window, but whatever.)

She rolled off the bed and jogged to her window, unlocking it and sliding it up as she did.

"Alice, I swear to god if you come flying in here like a bat out of hell again, I'm going to-"

Bella cut herself off as someone who was definitely _not_ Alice peered in at her.

Edward crouched on her window sill, looking decidedly more cramped in it than Alice ever did. He was gazing in at her with his familiar heavy golden eyes and his thick, swooping bronze hair and his chiseled jaw that Bella had not seen in months. Her playful expression melted into shock at the sight of him.

"_Edward_?" she gasped, taking a stunned step back.

"Hullo Bella," Edward greeted in his familiar baritone and then slowly slid into the room. That old scent of incense and dark chocolate greeted her as she took another wary step back, eyes wide.

"What are you _doing_ here?" she gawked, lips parting in astonishment.

When he looked at her then with those deep, brooding eyes of his and stood ramrod straight without saying a word, Bella felt a quiet rage stir inside her. Edward stood in her room as if he belonged here, as if it were okay for him to even be here, out of bum-fucking-nowhere, and Bella suddenly remembered the way that _jackass_ had left things.

"Get out!" Bella blurted. "I don't know what you want, but get _out_. Just _get out_."

Edward grimaced and seemed pained by this. "Bella, please, just-"

"_No_! I don't want to hear it. Whatever you want, you can shove it up your sorry ass! Get _out_. Get out _now_!" she snapped, shoving her finger at the window.

"Bella," Edward insisted, frowning at her rising tone.

"Go, or I'll scream for Charlie. I swear I will. Who the _hell_ do you think you are, coming back here now? You son of a bitch, what are you even doing here? Where's _Tanya_, huh? That woman you left me for in Denali without a _word_, without even a single _goodbye_? Are you kidding me right now? Do you have any idea-"

"Bella!" Edward interrupted her tirade, putting his hands on her shoulders to calm her.

How dare he? How _dare_ he?

Bella swelled up and wrenched away from him, furious.

"Don't you _touch_ me! Don't you dare!" she snarled, balling up her fists as her stomach lurched with disgust for him.

_I don't care what he wants or why. He can go right to hell_, she thought angrily, fuming at his gall. Edward put his hands up defensively and took a step back to acquiesce her.

"I'm sorry. I won't, I'm sorry. Bella, will you please just _listen_ to me?" he pleaded.

"No! Why the hell _should_ I? You come back here after being gone for _months_ and think you have the _right_? No way. Beat it, Edward. I'm not interested," she growled, heart pounding with confrontation.

She had not known her resentment ran so deeply for him, but he had been her best friend next to Alice, _and_ her boyfriend, and maybe she was gay now and didn't even love him like that, never really had, but _still_.

He was an _asshole_.

"I know I acted like a jerk, but please, just hear me out. That's all I'm asking for, _please_," Edward insisted, his shoulders tightening the way they always did when he was tense.

Sensing that shoving him out the window headfirst was unlikely to happen at this point considering his determination, Bella scoffed and threw up her hands. If he wasn't a vampire and she knew it could hurt him, she might have slapped him.

"Fine, let's hear it then! Let me know why you dropped me like a worthless piece of trash for some girl in Alaska, Eddy boy. I'm sure it'll be just as rich as all your usual _bull_shit!" she scowled, only more infuriated when some of her hurt spilled over into her words. It would not do for him to sense anything but her ire, not how much it hurt that he could ditch her like that.

"Language," Edward huffed, and Bella balked at him.

"Are you _kidding_ me?"

Bella spun on her heel, searching for something, anything to be used as a weapon. She settled on her Biology textbook. She lunged for it, turned and flung it right at his stupid fucking face. Pages fluttered in the air and he looked alarmed as he caught it easily, which only pissed her off even more.

_Stupid jerk!_ She thought. _Asinine, sniveling, smug son of a-_

She grabbed her History book and hurled that too, but he deflected that with his forearm and it hit the floor with a crash.

"Bella!" he barked, startled at her behavior.

Bella didn't even care. Nope.

Not a damn bit.

"_OUT_!" she yelled. "Out, or I swear to God the next thing I'm throwing will be your vamp ass out that window! I will find a way, just you wait-"

"I'm _sorry_!" he jumped in, swiftly cutting her off. Bella clamped her jaw shut as he finally raised his voice to match hers and glowered, shaking with her pent up anger that she had never gotten to take out on him.

"Sorry?" she scoffed. "You're _sorry_?"

_Like I care!_

"Yes," he growled back, scowling at her scornful tone. His previously golden eyes were darker, but he did not seem to be getting angry with her, just annoyed. "I'm _sorry_, Bella. I'm sorry I left like that, I'm sorry I didn't say anything, and I'm sorry I came here without warning you first. I'm sorry I hurt you and I'm sorry I'm such an awful jerk. I'm _sorry_."

"And what can I do with sorry Edward? _Nothing_, that's what. I don't care-"

"If you would just _listen_ to me," he continued, speaking over her in a way that made her knuckles go white against her skin when she clenched her fists.

Pretentious bastard.

"You would know that there was a good reason I did what I did."

Bella summoned a brutal mental image of Edward being impaled by a giant wooden stake in a place where no person ever wants to be impaled to show him what she thought of _that_, knowing that he could see it, and watched him make a face at her.

"That's disgusting," he said and rubbed at the back of his neck. "But I don't deserve that, despite what you might think."

"Are you fucking _serious_?" Bella snapped.

He winced at her F bomb, as if Bella cared, but hurried on.

"Just let me explain. Please. _Please_, Bella. If you still hate me afterwards, that's fine. But just give me one chance, that's all I need. Let me tell you why, and then if you want, I will jump headfirst out the window for you and I won't even try and land on my feet. I'll land on my stupid face as you so sweetly thought it," Edward begged.

Bella glared twin daggers at him, arms crossed and seething. She dug one foot into the carpet, eyeing him hatefully.

She really shouldn't. She should just keep saying no, but that tiny aching part of her that felt so betrayed couldn't help but really want to know his reasoning behind what he had done. She knew it could only be pitiful and that he would probably only reinforce her despise of him, but…

But as angry and pissed off as she rightfully was, she still needed something to soothe that sense of abandonment. Closure was a powerful incentive as it turned out.

"_Fine_," she snapped and then sat back down on her bed, crossing her legs to match her arms. She was aware she probably looked foolish, dropping down like an angry five year old, but oh well. "Go ahead, tell me why you're such a jerk. I'm _dying_ to hear it."

She waved a flippant hand at him, adopting an unaffected, superior air, but Edward only sighed and ignored it.

"Thank you," he muttered. "Now…The reason I left you like that Bella, was because of a lot of things, but mostly because of a key few. Carlisle told you that I believed it was what you wanted anyway. I could hear it in your thoughts-"

"You still shouldn't have-"

"But I knew I still should have ended it better," he continued as if she hadn't spoken and ignored the new mental image she conjured of him falling into a boiling volcano for it. "But that wasn't the only thing I could hear in your mind. Bella, you know I make it a point to try and tune people's thoughts out most of the time out of respect, but sometimes things slip through-Things I never should know, that even they might now know…"

Bella stared at him, grinding her teeth but grudgingly listening.

"…Things like how you feel about Alice," Edward revealed slowly.

Bella froze, her breath hitching.

_What?_

"What are you talking about?" she squirmed, arms tightening over her chest.

Did he know? Had anyone told him about what had been happening? Or was he in her mind right now, rooting around to psychoanalyze her to get back on her good side or something?

God, she had forgotten how much she hated Edward's powers. She had forgotten how it felt to be around someone who could learn your darkest secrets should you slip for even a second around him.

"Get out of my head!" Bella demanded, feeling violated, but he shook his.

"I'm not in it, no more than what I cannot block out. And yet even now I can hear the whispers in it, Bella. I hear her name, always vaguely in the back of your mind. Even before Carlisle informed me of what has been happening and before I returned and spoke with the family, I heard these kinds of things. I know you like her, Bella. I think I knew before you even had any idea…" Edward declared, looking uncomfortable.

Bella's cheeks flamed and she remained stunned silent, chest heaving.

_What is he talking about? He knew before I did? _

She supposed it should not have been surprising that he could hear Alice in her thoughts. The pixie had been on her mind so much lately for obvious reasons.

"What does this have to do with anything?" she snapped. What, was he going to start lecturing her about God and gays being an abomination or something? He had always been devoutly religious, maybe that's why he was bringing it up. Maybe he thought he had turned her gay or something stupid like that.

"It's part of why I left the way I did. Bella…Bella, you never really loved me, did you? Not really," Edward murmured, and sounded sad as he did so.

Bella scrunched her face at him, disliking having the heat pushed onto her.

"You never loved me either, obviously," she glowered, and hated the way he shook his head at her.

"But I did. It wasn't easy for me to go, especially not because of why I felt like I had to. I heard your thoughts Bella. I always had the feeling when you were with me, you wanted to be with Alice. You preferred her company to mine. Sometimes when you curled up against me at night, all I could hear was the softest thoughts in the back of your mind about how much you wished I were as comfortable as her. And when you got around her…She was the only thing on your mind. How funny she was, how beautiful and stunning, how much you liked to be around her. You never were that way around me," Edward admitted, his voice thick and heavy.

Bella tensed, blushing brightly. She didn't want to hear this, not from him. Had she really been having thoughts about Alice like that as far back as when she was with Edward? Those thoughts were private too, and so what if he had not meant to hear them? He still had and it was embarrassing as hell.

She struggled to swallow, but Edward only went on.

"And it wasn't just you. It was Alice too. I've lived around her for a very long time, and I'm so used to the endless chatter in her brain. You know how she is, always moving, thinking, doing. Being energetic Alice. It translates into her brain the same way, but…But when it came to you, I couldn't block it out. Her thoughts became more pronounced, and somehow all the brainwaves tuned to you whenever we were all around each other at the same time…"

Bella stiffened as he revealed more to her, starting to get an idea of where this was headed.

"And of course, I wanted to believe it was just her vampire side, her wanting your blood. But it wasn't. She didn't hunger for you only because of what is in your veins. I was around when she and Jasper met, you know. And she never locked on to him the way she did to you. Her thoughts have never been so consumed by anyone like that…No one but you, Bella…Your eyes, your lips, your smile, your heart and soul…" Edward said, sounding both unhappy and pensive at the same time.

"What are you saying, Edward?" Bella mumbled, her anger being replaced with uncertainty. Her heart stirred as he told her of how Alice harbored thoughts like that too, and as he told her he believed them to be deeper than what either of them assumed.

He was wrong though. Alice had made that clear already.

"She doesn't get that though. Not yet, at least. Or she's lying to herself. Alice may love Jasper, but I'm saying that you, Bella? You are a whole different story…" Edward shrugged and gave a soft, bitter chuckle.

Shocked at his audacity, Bella's lips parted. Edward seemed to be insinuating that he didn't think Alice was in love with Jasper? Or at the least, that Alice _loved_ her, too?

_Love? _She wondered. The word suddenly took on so many more connotations than Bella had ever associated it with when it came to Alice.

"And so I left. I knew I was not what you wanted. I knew there was something growing between you two, something I couldn't hope to divert or stop. The most I could do was get out of the way. The most I could do was to give you a clean break, Bella. I figured it would be easier for you to accept the truth of who you are if you could just let go of me easily. There's no better way to do that than to make you hate me, which seems to have worked out fairly well…"

Bella shifted uncomfortably on her bed, uncrossing her arms. "Edward…That doesn't make sense. You left like that because you thought it would be _good_ for me?"

He rolled his eyes and sighed, but nodded.

"Yes, I know, I'm an idiot, and it was unfair. But you can't tell me you wouldn't have accepted the fact that you're homosexual half as fast if I were still around to further confuse you," Edward said to her mortification.

Homosexual. That was such a stiff way to put it. Why did he have to talk like he came from an entirely different era?

"Because I _do_ come from an entirely different era," he snorted, listening in apparently.

"Get out of my head, jerk," Bella huffed, but without nearly as much malice as she had carried before.

He had his point, but still…It had been a pretty shitty way to go about things.

"Sorry," Edward murmured genuinely. "And Bella? I mean that. I really am sorry. About everything. About leaving you like that, and about not being there for you when you needed me. I haven't been here to keep you safe from the Volturi, or Victoria. They've told me everything. I am so sincerely sorry that I have been so terrible to you. I was just…Hurting, you know? I did love you, really. And to be second best to my sister bruised my ego, honestly. So I'm sorry for that."

This time when he apologized, Bella really heard him. She sighed deeply and eyed him warily, running a hand through her hair.

"You're still a jerk," she mumbled, and he nodded. Bella tried to grasp at the anger slipping through her fingers, but when Edward looked so contrite and was making his point so well, she simply couldn't.

She had not forgiven him, but when she rolled her eyes at him, he gave her that crooked smirk she used to adore and she did not even get mad over it.

"So…You know about me and Alice then…" Bella drawled as apathetically as she could, pulled into conversing civilly with him despite herself.

"I know," he replied. "Like I said, I think I've known before either of you even had a clue. But I don't hate you even if you hate me, Bella. If there is one thing I have learned over the course of my life, it is that we do not pick and choose who we fall for. It still hurts, but I understand."

God damn it, Edward made it so hard to hate him when he was being a good guy instead of an arrogant asshole.

"Is that why you went to Tanya?" she asked slowly, containing most of her annoyance. "To get over me?"

"Yes," he said simply.

"Well…Did it work, at least?" Bella inquired against her better judgment.

He gave her a pained smile that made her finally understand exactly where he was coming from.

Edward had sensed how deep her feelings for Alice ran while they were supposed to be head over heels for each other, and Bella had to know how much that must have sucked. She could read it in his eyes and the furrow of his brow, in the posture of his body. He had been her closest friend next to Alice, and it was still easy to read him.

Bella may not have loved Edward, but Edward had loved her, and the brunette softened immensely at his expression.

He was still an asshole…But now she felt kind of bad for him. He had to hear all her lesbian thoughts and less than platonic shit before anyone else even knew about it, had to deal with it in whatever way he could without giving anything away.

"It is in the process of working, yes. Tanya is a wonderful woman," Edward answered shortly. "She's here, actually. Outside the house."

"She's here?" Alarmed, Bella sat up straight, but he put up a hand to reassure her. Surely he did not want them to meet or something? How awkward and wrong would _that_ be?

"Yes, but only because we're riding together. We came straight over after we unpacked at home. She's um…She's fairly enamored with me, as I am with her. She's very, er…Possessive. We were together for a long time. She's the only woman besides you who I have ever loved, and the only reason we never stayed together was for reasons that have been now taken care of."

Bella nodded, both relieved that he seemed to be moving on well and resentful of it.

"That's…Good, I guess," Bella mumbled. The next question she framed so tentatively that he could undoubtedly sense her trepidation. "So…You don't think Alice is in love with Jasper?"

Edward became contemplative at that question, and Bella waited on pins and needles for the answer when she really should not have cared so much. What answer was she hoping for anyway? Yes? No?

She was frightened that she didn't really know.

"I didn't say that. I don't really completely know, Bella. Like I said, all I've caught are the faintest, deepest whispers from either of you…But it's enough for me to know that she likes you, too, in a way that's more than just friends, and more than she wants to admit," he answered vaguely.

"Well…It doesn't matter what you've heard from either of us. Alice and Jasper are in love, and she made it really clear that nothing is ever going to happen between us. Not that it should anyway. I wouldn't…I don't want that from her. I don't want to get between them like that. I don't even like her all that much anyway."

Edward looked at her in that way he always did when she wasn't fooling him for a second, and not because he was reading her mind to find out, but because of how blatantly transparent she was being.

"Right. I wouldn't assume too much, Bella. Alice and Jasper do love each other, yes, but…"

He didn't finish, only trailed away. The fact that he didn't finish whatever he was going to say made Bella's breathing pick up, mind interpreting it in a hundred different ways, all of them frightening at the same time that they were exciting.

No.

Nope.

She wasn't going there. Edward could guess all he wanted about the true nature of what everyone felt, but Bella knew the real deal.

She and Alice were just friends, nothing more. And that was all it ever would be. They would get over whatever crushes they might have and move on…As friends.

_Just_ friends…

"You're one to talk about assuming," Bella hiked an eyebrow at him. "I still can't believe you thought it was a good idea to drop me like that."

Edward did not even try to deny it or fight it, just gave her his brooding, shameful look, with his stupid _fucking_ face that Bella did not want to acknowledge how much she had missed. Edward had always sort of been the opposite of Alice. Where Alice always brought life, he was always a steady rock, himself to the point of being droll, but comforting all the same. He was stubborn, pigheaded, annoyingly arrogant sometimes, but he was also a genuine gentleman, a superb listener even if he didn't talk much back, and with a subtle sense of humor that always made it impossible to stay mad at him for too long. It was probably part of why she had determinedly stayed with him for so long despite how much they obviously weren't right for each other, relationship wise at least.

But friendship wise…Yeah. That was much better, and after hearing him speak his piece, Bella was finding it hard to stay pissed at him.

"You're still not forgiven," she told him when they both stayed silent.

"I know."

"And you won't be for quite a while," Bella added, staring at him pointedly.

"I know."

"And you know you totally still deserve to be thrown face first out the window, right?"

"Got it. Face first out the window it is then," Edward nodded and promptly turned towards it.

_God damn it_, Bella thought, biting hard on the inside of her lip to keep from grinning.

"Edward!" she called when he opened the window and began leaning way out of it.

He popped back in and turned back to her with his stupid crooked grin, and Bella had to laugh. That was something he and Alice shared. They could both make her smile when she was trying to be mad at them.

"I'm sorry," Bella blurted, though she wasn't really. It was more of a formality, a gnawing feeling that Edward really did get hurt and had not been doing any of this to deliberately hurt her, too. "I'm sorry it worked out like this. I still think you acted like an asshole and you should have talked to me about this instead of just running off, but I'm sorry I didn't love you back."

It was true. Bella knew it now without doubt. All her love had been for him as for a friend, nothing really sexual. Even looking at him now, she felt nothing like physical or emotional attraction. Just a sort of affection like she might feel for a brother and that was at best. Even picturing kissing him did nothing but put her off.

_Huh. Maybe I am a full blown lesbian_, she mused. It wasn't like Edward was ugly or anything. He was as handsome as any guy, vampire accentuation or no.

She just…Didn't feel any desire for him.

"Don't apologize for that, Bella. That's not something to be sorry for. You should never feel bad for not loving someone back. It's not something you can control, nor is it your fault. We don't pick who we fall in love with. If we did, it wouldn't be love. We love who we love, and we must adjust accordingly," Edward waved her apology off.

Something about his words felt deeper than just her and him, and Bella wasn't sure how to take that. She still got the feeling he was keeping his true thoughts about the whole situation between her and Alice to himself, but she did not have the courage to try and pry them out of him.

"Anyway, I just came by to explain myself. Tanya's getting annoyed. I can hear her cussing me from here, so I've got to be going Bella. I…I will be back at school tomorrow, though. Alice will be back as well and she will probably suffice to keep Victoria away from you. I know she has been giving you trouble. I've always despised that harlot. But…I will do everything I can to keep Victoria away from you, too. If you'll allow me…"

Bella wasn't sure if she was ready to go back to being best pals with Edward yet, but she definitely didn't want to end their friendship entirely anymore, either.

"Yeah. All help in that aspect is greatly appreciated…But that doesn't mean we're all good again, either. You're still on thin ice, and I'm not just going to forget it all, Edward," she told him honestly, and he nodded solemnly.

"I understand. Thank you for hearing me out, Bella. I hope in time that I can make it up to you. Goodbye, and good night," Edward inclined his head towards her.

Bella felt a smidgeon of guilt for being so hard on him when he took that regretful tone, so as he was slipping out the window, she called, "And Edward?"

He paused and cocked his head, listening.

"I don't hate you."

Edward only smiled his crooked smile, and then disappeared into the night.

* * *

When Alice came back to school the next day, it was like she had a shield formed between herself and the rest of the school. Any staring eyes were diverted by Alice either smiling and acting so brightly and politely that it would be a crime to even try and act rude towards her, or by the vampire responding with such a cold glare that no one dared to say a word to her. The pixie was simply too hard to hate, and even though gossip still hovered around Bella and she still had to suffer the occasional muttered insult in the hallway, Alice became the buffer between her and the madness.

Well…Except for Cassie, Lauren, and Sophie. Those three didn't really shy from Alice, or anyone because they thought they ran that school. Bella could feel their hatred any time they passed in the hallways, but they seemed to be plotting their revenge more than anything. Rosalie still had not returned, though Alice told her the blond was nearly ready to. Bella quite honestly would be just fine if she never came back, the stupid witch. But, she had almost returned to her full vampiric state, and Carlisle said that soon he would want to have her over to talk about the effects of her bite.

She was really sort of dying for that conversation. Her curiosity was eating her alive. Alice told her to be patient.

So for the next two weeks, things passed by almost the same way they always had with a few key differences. Namely that she was not dating Edward anymore, but he still eventually wormed his way almost fully into her good graces. Bella was surprised to find how much better they worked when they weren't dating. There was no fighting, no stress to any of it. She still wasn't quite ready to forgive him entirely, but she knew in time she would. He also did not dote on any feelings he might still have for her, thank God. He seemed entirely infatuated with Tanya, but she'd be damned if she could get any details about the Denali vampire out of him. He was being unreasonably obstinate about his new girlfriend.

And Bella…Bella tried not to dote on any feelings she had for Alice. Jasper had returned to school with her, and he too, eventually warmed almost to the point that they had been at before that biting shenanigan stuff had gone down. Alice being around seemed to soothe him, and gratefully, Bella could see him beginning to remember that she had not been trying to steal his girl.

But still.

Being around Alice when she knew how she really felt for her was harder than she thought it would be. Now when Alice smiled or laughed or touched her like she always did, she felt it deep in her bones how much her heart lifted at it. And she was even surprised to find envy stir in her when Alice directed her lovely attention on to Jasper. When they touched or shared a smile, or kissed, Bella had to look away.

It wasn't jealousy really. She didn't want to call it that. She didn't hate Jasper for it, didn't blame him or want to hurt him in any way for it. She simply wanted…To _be_ him sometimes. She wanted what he had, but despite all that, she never resented him for any of it. She wasn't the kind of person to harbor violent or hateful feelings.

It was the loving ones that became her issue…

She had to accept the fact that whatever she felt for Alice was irrelevant. Alice was in love with Jasper, Edward was wrong, and Bella was doing her damndest to pretend like with time these feelings would fade.

It was nice, though, that with all the Cullens except for one back around, Victoria had virtually no opportunity to get at her. She couldn't even get close. Alice especially wouldn't give her a single chance. She shut the redhead down at every turn, blocking her line of sight towards Bella, guiding the brunette away from her in the best routes with a hand in the small of her back, never, _ever_ giving Victoria the chance to get to her.

But Victoria turned out to be a very patient woman, and even Alice could make mistakes.

And as it turned out, even Alice was not immune to envy.

Or rather, Alice was not immune to _jealousy_.

It was a rainy Thursday afternoon in History when Bella found that particular fact out. It was a study day, so of course she was dicking around with Alice in the back of the room while pretending to work on their homework. Jasper and Emmett had engaged Eric, Angela, and Jessica in a spirited debate over who was better; Superman or Batman. The vampires firmly supported the Dark Knight and her human friends firmly supported the Man of Steel. Normally, Mr. Gordon would probably be barking at everyone to pipe down, but lately he seemed wary of even glancing at Bella. The brunette suspected he was afraid she might file a law suit on him for sexual harassment over reading her text aloud like that.

It would serve him right, too. Asshole.

Bella and Alice were busy making each other giggle like idiots by doodling increasingly unrealistic caricatures of said teacher when he spoke up.

"Class, attention please!" Mr. Gordon called out about ten minutes before the bell was due to ring for the end of school.

Half the class didn't even bother to look up, but Bella did. She blinked in surprise when she saw an unfamiliar girl standing up at the front of the room next to Fat-Fucking-Fatty as Angela had so elegantly dubbed him. She blushed a little when she immediately noticed how…Well…

_Hot_ she was.

The girl was slouching with her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her khaki colored cargo pants. She had long, thick dark brown locks tied up in a messy ponytail, dark almond shaped eyes and a definitively shaped nose, plus an unusually tanned skin tone for Forks, Washington. Bella couldn't help but appreciate the musculature of her toned arms. She guessed the girl was either Native American, or at least mixed with it somehow.

The cliché of tall, dark, and handsome trolled through her brain and she blinked and averted her eyes when the mystery girl abruptly met them across the room. When she glanced back again, the girl still hadn't looked away and she shifted around uncomfortably in her seat because of it.

"Class, this is Leah Clearwater. She has just enrolled here and I expect you all to give her a warm Forks High welcome. Leah, would you please say hello?" Mr. Gordon gestured for 'Leah' to introduce herself. Her last name sounded vaguely familiar.

Leah rolled her eyes slowly and lazily straightened up, finally looking away from Bella.

And then her eyes immediately fell on Alice.

Bella did not miss the way both girls stiffened immediately.

_What is it with this girl and unnecessary eye contact?_ She wondered, and then cocked her head in confusion when Alice suddenly sat back in her chair so hard that it creaked and clenched her fingers so tightly around the pencil between her fingers that it actually snapped.

_Whoa_, she blinked, glancing back and forth between them at the blatant tension.

"Alice?" she hissed worriedly, but Alice just glanced at her and gave her a tiny, completely not reassuring smile.

Bella wasn't buying it and she was immediately on high alert. Whenever Alice was on edge, so was Bella. There was generally a good reason for it.

Leah was taking an unusually long time to respond to Mr. Gordon as she stared directly at Alice. Bella was bewildered when the new girl's nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed at her best friend. Mr. Gordon was shuffling uncertainly when she finally did.

"Sup," Leah spoke, popping the 'p' and not even giving anyone else in the room a single glance. Bella barely detected a faint accent, a barely noticeable lilt in the word.

"Um…" Mr. Gordon had obviously been expecting more, but at Leah's apathetic attitude and the way nobody was even really paying attention, he gave up.

"Thank you, Leah. You may go sit wherever you like. It's a study day today, so we have not begun any new material," he told her.

Leah walked away from him without a word. If Bella had still tolerated Mr. Gordon, she would have found her disrespectful, something she usually did not admire in a person. But the cool air to the girl's uncaring attitude, her tight black wife beater and baggy pants made her come across almost badass instead.

Okay, well, fine.

So Leah Clearwater was very attractive and that might have had something to do with it but-

But why was she walking directly towards Bella?

"You mind if I sit here?" Leah said the moment she arrived. Bella only blinked some more, unnerved by the way Leah always looked her right in the eyes when they spoke. The new girl also stopped right next to her, close enough so that Bella's nose picked up the scent of earth and _heat_. She swallowed hard, alarmed at how delicious the girl smelled. Leah gazed down at her with those deep dark eyes of hers, waiting for an answer. Generally only vampires ever made such an impact with their aroma…

_She's very…Forward_, Bella thought.

"That seat's taken," Alice interjected when Bella just stared, unable to find her voice.

"No it's not?" Bella finally found it, tilting her head at Alice in confusion. The vampire sat on her right, both of their desks pressed together because it was allowed on study days. Leah was standing on her left, hands still shoved into her pockets.

"Yes, it is," Alice insisted, her tone unreasonably hard. Bella stared at her, perplexed by the strained edge Alice's voice was taking on. What was her _deal_? "Joseph sits there. Sorry. You'll have to sit somewhere else."

That was rude. Bella didn't understand why Alice was acting like this towards the new girl. This wasn't like her at all.

"Um…" Bella mumbled, glancing apologetically back at Leah and giving Alice a WTF look.

Yet Leah took it all in stride.

"Well, Joseph doesn't appear to be here right now, so I guess it's free game," Leah shrugged, and then sat down anyway, right on Bella's other side.

Bella felt Alice stiffen next to her again, and this time she stayed tensed. She did not get a chance to ask her friend what was wrong, because Leah immediately diverted her attention back to herself.

"So. You're Bella Swan, right?" Leah inquired, propping her elbows up on the back of the seat and the desk both as she turned to sit in the desk and face Bella.

Surprised that the new girl was so fearlessly talking to her, and also impressed because new kids never did that at Forks High, she replied almost eagerly.

Yeah.

Leah was really pretty. And she smelled good too. Not as good as Alice, or even Victoria, but still good, especially for a fellow human. And maybe she was kind of into that whole bad girl attitude

"Yeah. Hi. How do you know that?" Bella responded warily, turning to face her too.

She felt it only because of how close she was to Alice. She knew instinctively that Alice had just bristled, and she had no idea why.

"Oh, I've been here for less than thirty minutes and already some group of girls tried to warn me to stay away from you. Said you and some short haired girl were a lesbian couple and that I might catch your germs if I didn't. Plus, I recognize you by how much you look like your dad. Charlie comes down to La Push all the time to swig beers with my dad," Leah revealed.

Ah, so she was from La Push. That explained the faint accent. And Bella had been right. La Push was a native reservation. Leah definitely had some Native American blood in her.

Some very attractive Native American blood…

"Oh, dude, I knew I recognized your last name! Your dad is Harry? Harry Clearwater?" Bella lit up, remembering where she had heard the name Clearwater before. Harry was pretty much Charlie's best friend.

"Yep. The one and only," Leah drawled.

Bella, however, just registered the rest of Leah's explanation.

"So um…They already told you about the whole gay thing?" Bella mumbled nervously, mentally pulverizing Cassie Streeter. Great. The cool new girl already would think she was a freak before she even got the chance to make friends.

"Yep. Jokes on them though. I caught the gay germs back in eighth grade. So no worries, Swan," Leah chuckled in a smoky tone that made something inside Bella shiver. She couldn't help but grin a little in surprise, too.

_Oh_…So Leah was into the ladies too? That was certainly some _nice_ news to hear…Bella was more excited by that than she should be.

"You're gay too?" she inquired cautiously. "Hey, you might want to keep that quiet, people aren't exactly cool about it around here-"

"Fuck 'em," Leah scoffed, dark eyes rolling. "Like I give a fuck. What do I care if those preppy bitches don't like me? Most people don't. They'll get over it. Or they won't. I'm going to be gay either way, so why should I care?"

Yep.

She was a badass type of girl, and Bella couldn't lie; it was hot. Hearing her swear was, too. _And_ she was into girls. Bella couldn't help but feel thrilled about all of that.

It was tempered when she felt Alice shift next to her and that lovely white chocolate and berries scent wafted under her nose, reminding her with a sharp pang how much more she wished that it was Alice who was available.

But hey, though. She wasn't. And maybe this was just the pick me up Bella needed. Leah was certainly being friendly enough, their dads were friends too, they both liked girls and Bella definitely thought she was physically appealing.

So why shouldn't she be a little excited about meeting a fellow homo? It wasn't like she had many options around here. Not that she was planning on trying to get with Leah or anything, but it was still nice that there might be some possibility.

"What about you?" Leah went on, peering around Bella to gaze at Alice with some weird, hard emotion in her eyes. For a split second, Bella thought she saw them flash yellow, and shook her head, thinking the light was playing tricks on her.

Huh. That was weird…

"You two a couple as well?"

"Oh, uh…" Bella blushed at that and squirmed when she noticed Jasper glance back at them out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to really dislike that question, because he moved around in his seat and Emmett subtly put a hand on his elbow. Bella thought he was being a little _too_ territorial, but then again, he had the right to be by now. Plus, he was still having control issues occasionally.

"No, we're not. That's a really invasive question to ask two people you just met, by the way," Alice snapped before she could reply.

Startled, Bella faced her, eyeing her in bewilderment. Why was Alice being so _cold_ towards Leah?

_What's her issue?_ Bella thought. _It's like Leah walked in here and spat on her by the way she's acting. This isn't her at all…_

"Sorry, Pixie Sticks," Leah hummed, not sounding very sorry at all. The nickname 'Pixie Sticks' seemed to anger Alice further, however. The vampire's face tightened and Bella looked back and forth between them, feeling tension radiating off of both of them. Leah's fingers flexed on the desktop.

What the hell was their deal? From the moment Leah had walked in, they had been eyeing each other like two rival gang members.

"Bella, you didn't finish your drawing," Alice said abruptly and indicated the indeed half finished image of Mr. Gordon with a penis for a nose on Bella's desk.

"Uh, yeah," Bella narrowed her eyes, thrown by the sudden change in subject. "I guess I didn't…"

"So, Swan. What do you all do for fun around here? La Push has a beach but there seems to be not much to do in this town," Leah broke in and Bella turned back to her again. If she didn't know better, she could have sworn she heard Alice _growl_.

Choosing to ignore that, Bella answered Leah. She _might_ have been a teensy bit distracted by the slope of Leah's collarbone and the way it dipped when she moved.

"Movies mostly. There's a park, but it's not much."

"Movies, huh? I haven't been to the movies in like, three months. Seen any good ones lately?" Leah inquired amiably.

No, lately Bella had been too preoccupied with the crap going on with the Volturi so she hadn't had a chance.

"No, sadly. They have though. Angela swears by Iron Man 3. I've been dying to go see it," Bella said, gesturing at the group sitting in front of them and still arguing about superheroes. Emmett was still chattering, but Jasper was silently gazing at them over one shoulder, and the bigger boy's hand did not leave his elbow even while he talked.

Okay. Why was everyone acting so damn _weird_?

Leah was being pretty fricking cool in her opinion. Why were they looking at her like that? Especially Alice? She of all people should have been chattering up a hospitable, sociable storm with the new girl, as was her nature.

"Oh, yeah? I've always liked Iron Man. Hey, maybe me and you could go see it together some time, Swan," Leah offered and Bella started.

Did she…

Did she just ask Bella out?

If so, that was _really_ fast.

"Like…You mean, _together_?" she blushed, then internally swore. She was going to look really dumb if Leah hadn't meant it that way.

Leah, however, only let a slow smirk make its way onto her face. The expression spoke of mischief that drew Bella in way more than she wanted to admit.

Stupid bad girl attitude distracting her.

"Well, only if you _wanted_ it to be that way," Leah murmured, quirking an eyebrow at her, which made Bella's stomach flip flop in excitement.

Oh yeah. Leah was definitely a smooth talker, and Bella was delighted, flattered.

"Don't you think that's a little fast though?" she said despite herself.

"Oh, I don't know. You seem pretty cool, Izzy. Why not? Worst that can happen is it doesn't work out and we go back to the whole friends thing. It's up to you though. I'm chill either way."

Bella was turning crimson and trying her best not to smile when the bell rang. Izzy, huh? Nobody had ever called her that nickname before. Just Bella, or Bells. Never Izzy though. She found it seemed to fit coming from Leah.

"Here, let me give you my number. You just let me know if you ever want to get something together," Leah said and lazily reached over to Bella's desk to grab the piece of paper and pen she had been doodling with as everyone began to stand up and file out of the classroom eagerly as it was the end of the day.

_Did I just get a girl's number in one conversation?_ She stared in astonishment. _I did! She totally is asking me out! Damn, she works fast…_

The scent of heat and earth fluttered under her nose and just like that, Alice's hand shot out and snapped closed around Leah's wrist, halting her.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Alice hissed in a voice like ice cold steel as Bella jumped in surprise. The vampire leaned over her, her arm pressing into Bella as the hand at its end squeezed the tanned wrist it had captured.

"Alice!" Bella gasped, reprimanding.

_What is she _doing_?_

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to _touch me_ you fuckin' leech," Leah snarled back. Bella stiffened at how low and ferocious Leah's tone had gone, though something inside her bristled at the insulting of Alice. She watched as Leah's shoulders drew together so fast that the muscles in them bunched visibly beneath the straps of her tank top.

_What the crap? What is even happening?_ Bella thought, bewildered by the hostility being displayed before her, especially from Alice!

"Then stay the _hell _away from her you filthy _mutt_!" Alice rumbled back, her upper lip curling and her honey golden eyes melting quickly to black. Her hand tightened on Leah's wrist so hard that Bella could see her hand flexing and she had no idea how Alice wasn't breaking the girl's wrist at this point.

"_Alice_!" Bella yelped, scandalized. Jasper and Emmett were suddenly there, towering over all three of them, and a few people, including Jessica and Angela, had stopped to watch.

_Alice is really going to hurt her if she doesn't stop! What the hell is wrong with her! _Bella thought frantically, not knowing how to defuse the situation, or why there was even a situation to be had in the first place.

But Leah stood her ground, not flinching away. Bella did not understand how Leah wasn't on the floor, writhing in pain from the vampire's strength.

"You either let go of me right now or I'm going to show you a _filthy mutt _real fucking quick," Leah said in a rugged tone, and this time Bella swore to God her eyes really did flash a bright, obnoxiously luminous yellow.

She could feel the way Alice's arm was tensed so tightly up against her and the vampire was bent over across her, practically nose to nose with the La Push native. Both of their chests were heaving, and Bella noticed the way Leah's skin seemed to shake with a palpable _rage_, and the way Alice's now black eyes glittered with _rage_ too. The scent of wet earth and heat fought with a thickening aroma of white chocolate, mint, and berries that made her stomach knot and her head dizzy.

But when all the vampires around her shifted in a threatening sort of motion and Alice's grip only further tightened on Leah's wrist, she had enough.

"Alice, stop it!" Bella snapped and grabbed Alice's own wrist, tugging on it furiously. "What the hell is _wrong_ with you? Lay off!"

Alice hesitated, but when Mr. Gordon called back to them to see what was going on, she quickly shoved Leah's wrist away from her like it carried the plague. The La Push native yanked it back just as harshly and stood up fast, scowling with such an ugly loathing expression on her pretty face that it actually put Bella off.

Before Bella could even get an apology out to her, Leah stormed away, shoving past Angela and Jessica. Her whole body seemed to shake with her fury and Bella felt her own fury well up as she stood and glared when Alice mimicked her movements.

"What the hell was that?" Bella demanded.

Alice gazed back at her with swirling black eyes, her jaw locking when the human turned on her like that.

"That," she snapped, "was me preventing you from making a really stupid mistake."

"What-Are you _joking_? You're acting ridiculous! We were just talking!" Bella protested irately.

"_Talking_? You were about to take her number and go on a date with her after one five minute conversation! You don't even _know_ her!" Alice scoffed and shoved her desk back where it was supposed to be with so much force that it skidded across the floor. The vampire leaned down and snatched her backpack off the floor as Bella stared with her jaw dropped, dumbfounded.

"What-How-That's not even-_Dude_!" Bella stammered furiously, unable to string together a coherent sentence in her outrage.

Alice just scowled at her and Bella became all the more pissed for it.

"Where do you get off?" she shrilled indignantly. "What do you care? How is that even your business? What is _up_ with you? Alice, you're acting _crazy_!"

Bella realized her mistake the moment the word left her mouth.

There were, of course, precious few things that could piss Alice Cullen off. Rudeness, homophobia, and going after the people she loved were some of them.

Calling her crazy, as it turns out, was on that short list.

You learn something new every day.

Instant regret flooded through her as Alice's eyes flashed and Bella could see the muscle going in her jaw, the way her upper lip twitched.

_Crap_, she shut her eyes for a bit longer than a standard blink, kicking herself. _Crap_. She could barely open them again, barely face Alice now.

"Crazy?" Alice murmured the word back to her, barely audible. Her tone was so soft and icy that it gave Bella chills.

"Alice-No, I didn't mean-"

It was too late. Bella had royally fucked up, and nothing she could say was going to take it back.

"_Fine_. Go on a date with _Leah_, see if I give a damn, but don't come crying to me when she turns out to want you for nothing more than sex. Oh, but you'd probably like that, wouldn't you, swooning over her stupid bad girl crap? Well don't come _crying_ to me when that bad girl stuff turns out to be legit. It's not like you ever listen to me anyway!" Alice spat spitefully, then shoved past Emmett and Jasper and stormed out of the room.

Okay. _That_ stung. A lot.

Alice had _never_ spoken to her like that, with so much disgust and hurt. Bella was still grimacing as Jasper hurried after her and Jessica let out a low whistle.

"Damn, Bella," Angela winced sympathetically and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Why is she so _angry_ at me? What did I _do_?" Bella lamented, looking from her to Emmett and then to Jessica.

"You really don't know?" Jessica looked at her as if she were stupid.

"No!" she huffed, bewildered and feeling tears tugging at the corners of her eyes when she remembered the vicious way Alice had gone at her.

She and Alice _never_ fought like this. _Never_. What the _fuck_ did she _do_?

"You never call a girl crazy, Bells. _Especially_ not Alice," Emmett told her sagely, rubbing the back of his neck.

"But she _was_ being crazy. There was no reason for her to act like that! And that definitely wasn't a reason to blow up on me!" Bella protested, not getting what they were obviously getting.

"Bella," Jessica sighed and rolled her eyes as if she were being exasperating.

"What? I don't get it!" Bella threw up her hands, turning to Angela for help.

"Bella," Angela clicked her tongue and gave her a compassionate stare. "Alice wasn't acting _crazy_. She was acting _jealous_."

Bella's lips parted in shock, and she was so surprised that Angela and Jessica had to take her by the arms and drag her out of the room when Mr. Gordon reminded them that the day was over and it was time to go home.

* * *

Alice did not pick up the phone when she called that night, and refused to say a word to her the next day at school, no matter how hard Bella tried to get near her. It was ironic, actually. Victoria seemed to be absent that day, so now it was not Bella avoiding the redhead, it was Alice avoiding her.

Alice was being really un-fucking-fair about all of this. Bella tried multiple times in Biology to talk to her and didn't even get a glance from the vampire.

Maybe Angela and Jessica had it right. Maybe she really _was_ jealous. But none of that was a reason for her to be so…So…

Bella had to cut her train of thought short before she started calling Alice a bunch of bad names she really didn't mean. It's not like she could figure out what Alice's problem was when the girl wouldn't even give her a chance to apologize or yell at her some more. Both were sounding like really great options.

She finally managed to pin Alice right before walking into gym class when they both coincidentally arrived at the same time -that is to say, Bella had been waiting for her to arrive. She had correctly predicted Alice would try and avoid her by coming late, which turned out to be cutting it super close at one minute before the late bell would ring.

"Alice!" Bella stood up straight off the wall when she saw the pixie approaching, and at that exact moment, Leah walked by and gave her a smile and a wave.

"Sup Bella?" she called while giving Alice the evil eye, and kept right on going.

Bella winced and didn't answer, only turned back to her fuming best friend.

"Alice-"

Alice glared right through her and with one wickedly cold shoulder, walked on into the gymnasium without a word.

_Oh for God's sake_! Bella thought irritably and stalked after her.

She did not get another chance to speak to Alice because the vampire speed walked to the locker room and was changed and back out before Bella even reached it the door behind her. The pixie blew past her just as she was reaching for the door handle.

Stupid vampire speed, letting her change in ten seconds flat.

"Swan!" Coach Basselor bellowed at her from across the gym when she stood there and beat her forehead against the door a few times. "What are you doing? Get changed! You're late enough as it is! _Move_ it!"

Bella wondered how many days of detention she would get for flipping Basselor the bird but decided it probably wasn't worth it. She yanked the locker room door open and stomped in, muttering under her breath about the injustice of it all.

Bella hurried over to her locker and began spinning the combination lock harshly, grumbling the whole time. In her annoyed state, she rolled the number dial too far and had to start over. When she did it again a second time, she actually shrieked in frustration.

"For God's sake, _open_!" Bella snapped and slammed her palm angrily into it, her temper flaring wildly.

When that didn't work, she ground her teeth together and grudgingly spun the dial for the third time, slower, and this time it worked. She faintly heard the whistle blow back out in the gym and rolled her eyes, knowing she was going to catch flak for taking too long to get out there. She popped the locker open and immediately began to strip, pulling off her shirt and bra while unsnapping the button on her jeans and haphazardly pushing them down so they hung low on her hips.

She had just reached up a hand to begin pulling out her change of clothes (having learned from her previous mistake of forgetting them in her truck) when a hand that was most definitely _not_ hers shot out and slammed it closed again with a crash.

Bella jumped a foot in the air, yelped and spun around. She had only enough time to register a flash of wild red hair when the scent of cinnamon and ice wine blasted her senseless.

"Well hello there, kitten," Victoria purred, towering over her and less than an inch away, her hand still pressed to the lockers next to Bella's head.

"Oh shit," Bella breathed, and cried out when Victoria laughed, molten red-gold eyes glittering maliciously as her fangs peeked out from under her ruby red lips and her pheromones _assaulted_ Bella.

Her knees buckled as the vampire pumped ruthlessly into her senses. A shock of desire shot through her core and she slumped, gasping for air that suddenly tasted of nothing but the redhead before her.

_Oh no, oh no, oh no! _

"Don't look so upset to see me, sweet Bella. It's really quite hurtful," Victoria murmured, pursing her lips with a faux hurt look.

Bella sank down further and whimpered piteously when the redhead only smirked again, slowly, tauntingly. She could do nothing but shake and cower when Victoria leaned in and pressed the length of her sinuous, curvy body all along hers. Every inch of it seemed to radiate with her aura and Bella's lips parted at the feel of her, at the way the luxurious silk of her black top slid teasingly against her bare nipples when the woman's ample breasts pressed into hers with a delicious weight.

Victoria had finally caught her alone.

_Oh my Jesus Christ_, she thought desperately, gasping in pheromones as Victoria put her other hand on the other side of her head, trapping her in. Bella couldn't pry her eyes off of Victoria's as they bore into her, piercing through her. She could feel how cool the redhead was through her top and her nipples went stiff, making another quiet whimper leave her throat before she could stop it. She did not even have the presence of mind to freak out that she was topless in front of the woman, only the fact that the woman was here, and had her completely pinned and _alone_.

"Oh Bella…Bella, Bella, _Bella_…You're not the brightest of the bunch are you, sweetheart?" Victoria tsked, giggling lightly when Bella screwed her eyes shut and braced her hands on the vampire's shoulders, desire coursing through her nervous system without her permission. Her heart pounded maddeningly loud in her ears as Victoria dipped her head down and ran the tip of her nose from the base of her neck and back up to her jaw line, inhaling her scent.

_I messed up_, she realized. _What is she doing here? Oh God, it's Victoria! I thought she was absent today! What do I do? What the fuck do I do!_

She opened her mouth to scream for help, for Alice, but nothing came out but a wheeze.

"Mm, but that doesn't put me off, don't worry. I do so _love_ a helpless girl. Especially such a lovely one like you…Still, you should have known better than to go arguing with your little protectors with me around. Alice told you everything, I know…And so you should know I'm a _very_ persistent person, Bella…I _always_ get what I want. And right now, what I want is _you_," Victoria murmured seductively, and to illustrate her words, she rolled her hips into Bella's, their pelvises grinding intimately.

"_God_!" Bella cried and surged up, arching the small of her back in slightly to escape the bolt of pleasure and want that coursed through her at the motion.

Victoria had finally caught her alone again, and it seemed she wasn't going to waste a second of it on being subtle.

"No kitten, I'm not God. But I can definitely make you see him," Victoria smiled coquettishly, her fangs glinting forebodingly in the fluorescent lighting. "Would you like to see how?"

Victoria lifted her right hand off the lockers and laid it against Bella's shoulder, rubbing slowly at the warm skin there before she let it slide downwards, fingertips trailing over her collarbone. Bella was both mesmerized and repelled by her touch.

"It was very nice of you to strip for me, Bella," Victoria smirked in her face and when she let her palm shift even lower, headed towards the valley between her breasts, panic lit through Bella and she tensed violently.

_Oh my god, no, this isn't happening! Say something! Do something, anything you idiot! _

But words failed her. She pushed weakly at Victoria's shoulders to no avail, because the vampire just laughed a sexy laugh and scraped her nails lightly over her skin.

"Don't even play that game with me, kitten," Victoria chuckled, and then cupped Bella's right breast with no further warning. "My, my. Your tits are fucking _perfect_."

Bella mewled helplessly against the lockers when Victoria squeezed her in her hand, the pressure sending delicious pleasure straight between her thighs.

Yeah, no, Victoria was expressing no interest in wasting any time doing anything but molesting her; getting straight to the point, as it were.

She yelped and pushed at the woman's shoulders again when two cold fingertips pinched at her nipple, rolling it provocatively. Jolts of pleasure raced down to her throbbing clit at the sensation and she cried out. Her belly rolled over hungrily when Victoria pressed her lips against the side of her neck, dragging them over her sensitive skin.

_I don't want this. Not from her. Not from her! _She thought desperately.

But she did. Her traitorous body was _aching_ for it.

"Kitten," Victoria sighed into her ear as she fondled her breast. "Don't act like you don't want this. Sweetie, there really is nothing wrong if you do. I know Alice has poisoned you against me, but it's really not fair. So what if I'm here on Volturi orders? Why does that mean we can't have some fun together? We could even be _friends_. You know you want it, so just _relax_."

Bella shivered when Victoria licked the shell of her ear and hummed.

Bella's body screamed for her brain to shut up, to turn off completely while pheromones coursed through her veins. But Bella's brain couldn't, even as she felt slick, desperate heat blooming between her thighs, even as Victoria's delicious scent filled her skull more powerfully than it ever had before.

"I don't," Bella breathed, chest heaving, breast trapped in Victoria's palm as long fingers squeezed her again, making her eyes want to roll back. "You're evil and sick and twisted and I…I don't want this. Not from you. _Not_ from _you_."

Her words were soft, weak, and strained. They sounded flimsy even to her own ears.

"You don't _want_ this Bella? You don't want _me_?" Victoria laughed derisively and let go of her breast, only to push her hand up against the plane of Bella's trembling stomach. It was so cool and Bella's breath hitched at the feel of it.

"I-" Bella's throat went dry when Victoria's knee pressed to the inside of her thigh and ran up and down it, easing her legs apart even as she tried to keep them shut. Despite her effort, they still seemed to drift further open as Victoria pressed the outside of her pale thigh against the inside of Bella's.

"Is that really true, Bella? Do you really think so?" Victoria hissed, brushing her nose against her cheekbone, her breath cool and sweet as it puffed across Bella's face, striking her dizzy.

"I-I…" she stammered. She couldn't get the words out of her mouth. Part of her was afraid that if she did then Victoria might actually stop touching her, and her body screamed in protest at that.

"Then _prove_ it."

Victoria's hand slipped down so suddenly that Bella tensed, but it was too late. The back of her head slammed into the lockers when three fingers slid over the front of her underwear, dipping in between her legs. They passed so firmly over her stiff clit through the cotton barrier that she moaned outright and shot straight up as tingles spread through her most intimate area.

"Oh _fuck_!" she keened as Victoria began to massage her, her fingers skimming up and down, again and again, the fabric of her underwear soaking through instantly. Her clit throbbed with every pass of Victoria's fingers and she felt her insides eagerly clench around nothing. She dug her nails so hard into the redhead's shoulders, drowning in pheromones and heat and ice and _hunger_.

"Because it sure doesn't feel like you don't _want_ this to me," Victoria growled into her ear. "I can feel how wet you are even through your underwear, Bella. You're _creaming_ yourself. If you really don't want me, you go right ahead and make me stop. Push me away, if you can. If you try to push me off right now, I will let you, and I will walk right away…."

Bella's thighs quivered and her heart pounded as heat flooded her, building, a fire being stoked by Victoria's rubbing fingers. She was losing herself to the rhythm of them, her hips rocking forward and her throat bobbing as she moaned and cried out, unable to help herself.

"Tell me to stop kitten and I will. Say the word and I swear I will. Tell me _no_. All you have to do is _say_ it…But you can't, can you? You can't give me _anything_ to show you don't want it. You couldn't any other time, so why would you now?" Victoria taunted, sucking at the skin of her neck, groaning when she felt Bella's hips begin to chase after her rubbing fingers.

_I can't make her stop. I can't_, she thought helplessly. _I can't talk. I can't do it! Oh god, it feels so good. Why does it have to feel so fucking good? I can't…I can't, I can't, I can't!_

She really should have seen this coming.

_If she gets you alone, and she wants you, she can take you. And there won't be anything you can do to stop her-And if she's really putting on the _charm _like she did a minute ago, you might not even _want _to stop her, _Alice whispered in the back of her mind.

And she was right. She was so damn right. Bella couldn't get anything out of her mouth but incoherent mewls of bliss, bucking into Victoria's palm.

She didn't want to make it stop. She could feel the ache stirring inside her reaching a breaking point, the point of climax rushing up on her so fast that she couldn't stand to do anything that might prevent her from falling over that edge.

She didn't want Victoria to stop. She wanted it.

And she hated herself for it.

"_Please_," she sobbed and began to shamelessly hump at Victoria's hand, striving for the orgasm building between her shaking thighs. "I _want_ it. I want it, _please_." Her hands spasmed on the redhead's shoulders when Victoria's other hand cupped the side of her neck, holding her still up against the lockers.

"That's what I thought," Victoria sneered and Bella shuddered wildly when she felt the woman's fingertips come up only to dip slowly back into the waistband of her underwear. They had just brushed the naked skin of her clit and were a moment away from ripping her apart at the seams when Victoria let loose a guttural snarl and jerked away from her.

Bella almost collapsed, but in a head rush of white chocolate and berries, _Alice_ appeared, hissing like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs and caught her. She sobbed in surprise and desperation as a pair of arms wrapped around her and hauled her back to her feet.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," Victoria rumbled, now five feet away as Bella clung to Alice like a lifeline, panting hard.

_It's Alice. Alice, Alice, Alice! Oh my god, Alice!_

But of course it was Alice. Of course it was her. Of course Alice would never let anything bad happen to her.

Alice stepped in front of her, automatically pushing the human girl behind her at the same time. Bella was once again pinned to the lockers, but now it was Alice's reached back hand on the skin of her stomach keeping her there. It was a stark difference from Victoria's domineering hand on her belly. Alice's was a comforting, protective gesture that turned Bella on even as it made her eyes overflow with relief.

"Alice," she whimpered. "Alice, _Jesus_…"

She had never been so happy to see the girl in her whole life. Even the time Victoria had her trapped in the car did not compare. Alice saving her this time was like her salvation.

"Oh, well, don't you just deserve a round of applause, Alice?" Victoria sneered, crossing her arms even though her features were twisted with barely concealed anger. "You have an annoyingly bad habit of showing up just when Bella and I are getting to the best part."

Alice didn't say a word. Not a single one. She only glared right into Victoria's eyes, her fangs peeking out under her lip and the hand not against Bella held out before her, splayed open, fingers crooked into claws.

"Don't look so irritable, you little brat," Victoria snapped at Alice's lack of response. "You knew if you left her alone for even a moment that I would be on her. You don't get to play the jealous girlfriend card when you won't even put a claim on her. If you really wanted to keep her out of my hands, you'd have left your mark on her by now. But you're a coward, and a poor excuse for a vampire. Don't get mad at me when Bella here comes crawling to me on hands and knees for what you refuse to give her…"

"_Leave_," Alice snarled. "You have _crossed the line_. I told you not to lay a hand on her again. How _dare_ you touch her without her permission?"

But Victoria threw back her head and howled with scorn. The sound of her derisive laughter made Bella cower and she felt Alice's fingers flex against her abdomen.

"Oh my god, are you seriously playing dumb right now? You heard her as well as I did, sweetling. I gave her the opportunity to push me away, to tell me to stop. And you know what I got instead? _Please_. I got her _begging_ me to give it to her the way you won't…And _can't_. Face it, Alice. She wants me, and you can't do a thing about it."

Alice lurched forward and Bella never felt more naked in her entire life, or vulnerable. She instinctively crossed her arms over her chest and slid down the lockers, trembling and flinching when Alice snarled right in Victoria's face, going nose to nose with her, staring up into those darkening blood gold eyes with her own ebony ones.

"Leave, _now_. This is the last time you _ever_ put your hands on her. I'm calling your superiors the first chance I get. You can try and twist it any way you want to but you will _not_ turn her into another one of your blood pets. I won't _let_ you," Alice ground out through clenched teeth.

Bella shrank as both vampires postured, Victoria's eyes narrowing at how close the pixie stood to her, trying to back her down.

"Is that supposed to be a threat, Alice? Is that supposed to _scare_ me?" Victoria murmured, expression melting into that foreboding emotionless mien. "What do you expect the Volturi to do? _Fire_ me? For _what_? Doing my job?"

"Touching her is _not_-"

"_Isn't_ it?" Victoria interrupted and drew up to her full height, bearing down on Alice as she did, but Alice didn't give her an inch. "Bella's so much more likely to come along willingly if I fuck. Her. _Stupid_. Don't you think? Who's she going to follow, Alice? The woman who can and will give her what she wants, or the stupid little _girl_ who will only break her pathetic human heart?"

Alice shoved Victoria so hard that she careened back into the row of lockers behind her with an almighty _bang_ that dented them horribly. Bella blanched at the violence as Victoria's eyes flashed black and she bared her fangs with a gut wrenching snarl.

Victoria stood slowly, so slowly as Alice heaved and did not make another move, just watched the redhead with cold, hating eyes. Victoria took one step forward, then another, every single one putting Bella ever more on edge. The tension crackled through the room, pheromones pulsating in the air as the two female vampires glared, fangs out and hands splayed. Victoria only stopped when she stood so close to Alice that she could kiss her, but by the way her fingers twitched, Bella knew all the redhead wanted to do was _kill_ her.

And then silence. Absolute and total suffocating silence.

For the longest moment, nothing happened. It pressed down on Bella's sanity, watching, waiting for one of them to make a move, for them to explode and go at each other, to start yelling, something, _anything_.

But no. Victoria only towered over Alice, daunting and intimidating, and Alice did not back down for even a second.

And Bella couldn't stand it another second.

"The girl," she blurted, flinching when Victoria's eyes whipped towards her and Alice perked but did not turn around, though Bella could tell she was hanging on every word.

"What?" Victoria said softly, emotionlessly. Being spoken to by the woman made Bella tremble and nearly swallow her tongue, but she fought it back the best that she could, insides aching with left over arousal.

"You asked who I would follow…You or Alice. And I'm saying it's _Alice_. I would pick Alice over you any time. _Every_ time. I would follow _Alice_. I'd follow Alice to the ends of the earth, but I will _never_ follow _you_," Bella gasped, shocked at her own defiance, the fact that she could even speak to the redhead now.

For the first time, Bella saw the rage cut across Victoria's face, the way her nose wrinkled as she rumbled loudly, and Alice's answering hiss was the only thing that made Bella feel safe enough to keep staring right back at her. That, as well as the rising anger growing in her for this _bitch_ of a woman, for the way she had turned Bella into a whining, whimpering puppy begging to be touched, for threatening Alice.

"You will both regret this day. Next time won't be so pleasant, Isabella. Next time I'm going to make it _hurt_. And Alice? Those marks on your back weren't even the start of what you have coming to you," Victoria spat, and in a blur she took off, disappearing out of the locker room with the door slamming shut to punctuate her abrupt departure.

The change in Alice was so fast Bella didn't even get the chance to process it.

"Jesus Christ, Bella," the pixie breathed and took three quick steps back over to her. Bella swallowed hard, expecting a repeat of the last time Alice had gone off on her and fully ready to defend herself even if her sex was aching so profoundly that it was almost all she could think about, but that was not what happened.

Alice leaned down and snatched her shirt and bra off the floor and held them out to her. Bella took them quickly, blinking, but blushed brightly when Alice grabbed the front of her jeans and did up her button and zipper within a split second. She hurriedly slid her bra on and scrambled into her t shirt as Alice briefly looked away to give her some privacy. The moment her head cleared the hole, though, all she could see was Alice, so close, and smelling so fantastic and looking so hurt with her bright black eyes swirling with some unknown emotion after saving her for what felt like the millionth time.

"God, Bella, I'm so _sorry_," Alice choked out. "I'm so _sorry_. She almost-I should have _known_-I didn't mean to…God, I should have _known_. I'm so stupid. I'm so _stupid_!"

"Alice," Bella breathed, surprised by the way Alice's eyes shined with tears. "No, don't…Hey, stop, I'm okay. It's okay, don't-"

"No it's _not_! God _damn_ it, Bella, she was practically _raping_ you and I-I let her get to you. I let her slip past me. I was so angry at you after yesterday and I thought she wasn't here so I let her slip in my visions and I didn't see her coming. _Bella_," Alice cried forlornly, shaking her head brokenly when Bella immediately switched to concerned mode.

"Alice, stop it. Hey look at me, it's _okay_. I'm-She didn't _rape_ me. I'm _fine_. Don't, okay? Please don't cry," Bella pleaded and though she knew it was a monumentally bad idea, she reached out and cupped the pixie's face in her hands when she heard the softest little sob bubble out of her mouth.

It was such a heartbreaking sound that Bella never wanted to hear again, ever. So she ignored the electric tingles that raced through her because she was touching Alice and the lingering ache in her sex from Victoria's latest attack, and held her gaze, trying to convey to Alice that she really was okay even if she kind of wasn't.

"I'm sorry," Alice whispered hopelessly, cupping the hands on each of her cheeks. She was trembling and Bella's heart went out to her because of it.

Alice was really, really falling apart in front of her.

"I'm sorry I failed again. I'm sorry. I didn't keep you safe. I'm so sorry," Alice whimpered.

"No, Alice, _no_. Stop apologizing. Everything is _fine_. You did keep me safe. You came just in time. She didn't even…You know. So it's not even a big deal. She just got a little farther this time is all…And it wasn't rape. You were right…When she put on her charm, I couldn't say no. I asked her to, Alice so don't…" It was hard to admit that, that she had genuinely wanted it this time. It was hard to admit that she had actually asked-no, pleaded with Victoria for more.

"Making you want it is not the same thing as consent," Alice scowled and tried to pull away, but Bella held her firmly.

"No, it's not, but she didn't _make_ me do anything. I'm pretty gay in case you haven't noticed. And she may be a fucking bitch and a whore and I hate her, but I-I could have made her stop if I wanted to, but I didn't. I didn't want her to, Alice…I never even said no. I…I all but said yes."

Alice shook her head, not believing her, and Bella sighed softly.

"I don't _feel_ raped if that makes you feel any better," Bella tried again and Alice's eyes swam with more tears.

She meant it. She honestly didn't believe that Victoria had been out to rape her. No, the vibe she got from the redhead was that the vampire wanted her willing more than anything else. Undoubtedly she would get a thrill out of Bella willingly giving into her than having to take it by force. That would definitely be much sweeter when she rubbed it back in Alice's face.

And Bella hated to admit it, but she had certainly been willing once the touching really kicked in.

"It doesn't," Alice murmured back, but she did take a heavy, unneeded breath and her eyes seemed to clear a little.

Bella released her face as the pheromones pulsing around her made her too uncomfortable to keep touching Alice. The girl looked beautiful even when she was hurting, with her wet shimmering irises and quivering heart shaped lips, and Bella did not want to look at her like that at a time like this.

"Alice…Out of a more than mild curiosity, why _were_ you so pissed at me? I don't know what I did to make you so mad at me. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. I wasn't trying to, I just didn't get why you were so angry," Bella breached the subject of why Alice had not been watching over her so closely in the first place.

At her question, Alice looked immeasurably pained, her glossy pupils shining.

"Bella, I…It was nothing. I just really, really hate…That word. I don't like to be called crazy," Alice replied heavily.

Bella knew by now what it sounded like when someone was keeping something from her, and she was so not in the mood for that.

"Don't. Don't do that. Tell me what's wrong. Don't keep stuff from me," Bella insisted, her frustration bleeding in when she spoke.

"It's nothing, Bella. Please just-"

"No, I'm serious. Don't do this right now. Tell me," Bella demanded.

"Bella-"

"Just _tell_ me, Alice!" Bella's voice rose when Alice refused to meet her eyes and refused to answer her question. "_Please_."

"God, Bella, I was _jealous_, alright? I was _jealous_!" Alice burst out, throwing up her hands when Bella relentlessly pressed her.

Oh.

_Oh._

Angela had been right…

Alice was jealous…Because someone else was interested her.

Surprised, Bella's lips parted, but Alice wasn't finished.

"Are you happy now? Do you get it? I was _jealous_ that you were talking to her and looking at her and pretty much ignoring me when you've _never_ done that before, and I got angry, alright? And I don't trust her anyway, she's sketchy as mess. And then you called me crazy and I just kind of lost it. I really don't like that word, you know," Alice admitted, pursing her lips when Bella gazed at her as if seeing her for the first time.

_Does it really bother her that much? So much that she would throw a fit like that because Leah tried to give me her number? _She wondered.

"But you…But you said we weren't supposed to…I mean we're not…We're not supposed to _care_, Alice," Bella said weakly and the vampire gave a tiny, watery laugh that was anything but amused.

"Yeah, well…Oops, right? And then I walked in here and saw Victoria all over you again and I just-Bella I can't _stand_ it. I can't stand to see anyone touching you. I'm not supposed to care but I do, and that's why I was so angry. I'm still seething. And I can't shake it off. I just _can't_. Every time I see her hands on you the vampire in me just _rages_ and I…I just…"

Alice shrugged helplessly.

"B-But…But…" Bella stuttered and Alice sighed miserably, running one hand through her hair.

"I know what I said, Bella. You know I have feelings for you. I just didn't think they would be so hard to control," Alice murmured and glanced away as she said it.

For a long moment they stayed silent as Bella processed that.

_She…She has feelings for me. And it's hard for her to control them…Was Edward actually on to something? Because it sure is starting to sound like it_, she thought, and tried to squelch the eager sensation that arose in her chest.

She couldn't afford to hope for anything like that. She shouldn't _want_ to hope for anything like that…

"I get that, Alice, I really do. I…You know I like you too. But if we're going to…I mean, we have to let it go, right? Like you said? So it's not fair for you to jump on Leah like that. You could have really hurt her…" Bella mumbled.

At the mentioning of Leah, Alice's face darkened, but all she said was, "I know."

Mildly confused at the brooding look on Alice's face, she decided to switch back to the much less uncomfortable subject of her impending doom at Victoria or the Volturi's hands instead of the frightening one of her and Alice's feelings for each other.

"Anyway, it's okay, Alice, I forgive you. But I think you really pissed Victoria off this time," Bella stated, slumping back against the lockers. "She looked really angry this time, like _seriously_ pissed. But I'm not blaming you," she added hurriedly when Alice looked extremely guilty. "I'm just saying…And what did she mean about the marks on your back?"

At this, Alice's face smoothed out and Bella knew the next thing out of her mouth was going to be a lie.

"Bella-"

"Alice," she warned, having had just about enough of Alice's reluctance to tell her the truth without Bella having to pry it out of her in a game of Twenty Questions.

Alice stared at her, working a muscle in her jaw.

"It's no big deal. Don't be upset, please?" Alice groaned when she didn't let up.

"Alice, what-"

Alice turned around and pulled her shirt up to her neck exposing her entire back to Bella.

"Oh my god!" Bella gasped.

Because where there should have been nothing but creamy white flawless skin was now what looked to be more than a score of _scorch_ marks.

Long black lines marred the marble of Alice's back from the edge of her neck all the way to the base of her spine. They arched and crisscrossed in random patterns as if someone had taken an ash covered whip to her. The marks were blurry at the edges, almost smeared in appearance.

"Jesus, Alice, what the hell is that? What _happened_?" Bella exclaimed, moving forward and reaching out a tentative hand as if to touch her but stopping just short as Alice tensed.

"It's nothing, Bella. They'll be gone in a few more days. They don't even hurt anymore," Alice said off handedly and quickly pushed her shirt back down to her waist.

"No, don't even try that with me! Vampires never get injured like that! What happened? Did _she_ do this to you? Was it Victoria?" Bella babbled furiously as Alice turned back to face her, wincing at the volume of her voice.

When Alice remained silent, Bella had her answer. And she had a sudden epiphany as to what exactly had caused those marks on Alice's back.

"That was your punishment, wasn't it?" she said quietly, and scowled when Alice still said nothing, only confirming it again. "Alice, what the hell! That's a lot more than just a 'stern talking to.' You look like someone _flayed_ you!"

Alice squirmed, but said meekly, "Well, they kind of did…"

Bella swelled angrily, her distress over the wounds on Alice's back taking over her.

_I can't believe this. She's hurt. She's really, really hurt. Her back looked like hell, and all because she told me what was going on. She took that beating for me. She told me it was nothing!_

"That's not _nothing_, Alice!" she yelled, balling up her fists. "How could you be so stupid? If I had known they would do that I never would have wanted to know! You should never have told me, not if _that_ was the consequence! God, I'm going to kill that bitch for this, I swear! And you too!"

But instead of growing angry at her furious ranting as Bella fully expected her to, Alice only softened, her eyes widening the slightest bit. She peered at Bella with the oddest, most unreadable look that made her pause.

"What?" Bella blushed, some of the hot air going out of her. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's just…You're doing what I did, you know. When I pulled you out of Victoria's car. I yelled at you like this. Because I was scared, and I was concerned for you so much that I didn't know what else to do but go off on you," Alice said slowly.

Bella opened her mouth to deny that, say that this was different, but she halted.

It wasn't, really. It was the same principle, and she found herself floundering for something to say.

"Yeah, well. So what? So I'm freaked out because you're hurt. I worry about you too, you know. You're not the only one who gets concerned about keeping us safe. God, I don't even have a chance of protecting you from that stuff. So sue me if I'm a little upset and freaking out that you're wounded. I can't do anything about it when you are _but_ freak, Alice. I can't stand the idea of you being in pain or getting hurt, especially trying to protect my stupid self…" Bella trailed away.

Something about the way Alice looked at her then was so _different_. Alice didn't say anything, just stared deeply at her with those expressive eyes piercing, probing, stripping her to something _base_. Bella suddenly shrank, feeling shy and confused, anxious and a little excited, bewildered by the way Alice continued to just _look_ at her like that.

Like-Like she _wanted_ something, and was holding it back with everything she had, but her lips parted and Bella felt a lovely, tremulous sensation tug at her gut, instinctively knowing something was about to happen.

"_Bella_," Alice murmured in a voice like heat and stardust and _longing_, and Bella started when cool hands reached out and cupped either side of her face. Slender fingers lay along her cheeks, ten lines of electrically cool heat that made her breath freeze in her lungs.

_What is she-_

Alice took a step forward and their eyes locked like the most powerful magnets in the world as Bella took a step back and ended up pressed back into the lockers.

_Oh. Oh, oh, oh_, her brain short circuited and her hands came up to press down on Alice's, her whole body stiffening with an unstoppable _yearning_ that overcame her without warning.

"I'm so sorry," Alice husked, the sound of her voice low and filled with something the brunette did not think she would ever be able to name, but reminded her weirdly, starkly of sunsets, lonely nights, and a lover's embrace.

And then Alice kissed her.

She dipped her head forward and, Bella's eyes screwed shut instantly and she gasped the moment their lips met, her whole body lighting up like the Fourth of July. Her heart stuttered and went still, and she shivered crazily when she felt the length of Alice lay so gently and effortlessly along hers, fitting them together in all the nooks and soft, sensitive places where two bodies could fit, so tenderly and intimately as opposed to the forceful, intrusive way Victoria did it. Those cool hands soothed her burning cheeks and she gasped when she felt her bottom lip slip between Alice's.

She tasted like rain and spearmint and white chocolate and berries, and Bella _melted _like cotton candy in Alice's mouth the moment the vampire's tongue dipped into hers insistently, her entire world pitching upside down as she and Alice _kissed_.

This was different. It was different to any other time they had kissed. It was not a violent rush of pheromones and lust and bloodlust. They were not out of their minds, unaware of what they were doing. There was nowhere near enough of Victoria lingering in her system to cause Bella to unwittingly kiss her back, and Alice wasn't hyped up on pheromones from being bitten by the human.

It was soft and sweet, so gentle that it almost hurt.

_We're kissing. I'm kissing Alice, and she's kissing me. What is _happening_?_ She thought, squeezing Alice's hands until her knuckles strained against her skin, unwittingly slipping her tongue forward to get more of that taste, the taste of _Alice_, and Alice moaned, _moaned_ into her mouth with the sweetest sound Bella had ever heard. She whimpered back, but the vocalization of what they were doing seemed to snap Alice out of whatever the hell had come over her.

Unfortunately.

"_Fuck_!" Alice cursed and jerked back, breaking their kiss apart brutally. She surged away and Bella slumped against the lockers, tingling in all the best and worst ways. Her stomach was filled with a thousand little butterflies and her heart pounded like a tribal drum in her heaving chest.

She must have made quite the stupid picture, standing there with her mouth still kind of hanging open and her hands hovering next to her own face where Alice's hands had been a second before.

"Alice-what-" Bella stammered.

But Alice was already gone.

She disappeared so fast that if Bella could not still taste her, still feel her on her lips, she would have wondered if Alice had ever really even been there at all.

* * *

_**Okay, this time I mean it. I can't keep writing such long chapters. It was so damn hard to do and still fall within 5 day mark I've set. But there is just SO much that needs to be covered, and like I said, I need to get this done before break is over. I generally, personally don't believe all these events and information shouldn't be stuffed into one chapter, but I don't know how else to get it done. **_

_**Anyway, those were some seriously well thought out and well written reviews last time. Many of them were long and insightful, too. So thanks for that, those were really awesome to read. Definitely much love for the love. I should really reply to you guys, but god, by the time I finish a chapter I don't even want to type for a few days, and then it's time to start a new one lol. But I read all of them, I promise. Also, Alice believes Bella's consent was dubious, Bella believes that she was being consensual with Victoria and definitely did not feel like the vampire was raping her or anything. **_

_**And...The next chapter is one I have been dying to write. I think it might be one people have been dying to read, too. So yeah. See ya next time ;)**_


	14. Chapter 14

As it turned out, Alice avoiding her after they experienced something awkward or exceedingly important together that might have overwhelmingly negative implications seemed to be more than just an occasional thing. After Bella bit her, it was understandable that she avoid the human for a while. It was even understandable for her to avoid Bella after they argued over Leah, even if it was slightly unfair and uncalled for.

But after _kissing_ Bella after explicitly telling her that there could be nothing between them, that nothing could, should, or would ever happen between them despite whatever they felt for each other?

That was _not_ understandable.

Once Bella recovered from her dumbstruck state (which took a considerable amount of time) the first thing she did was sprint from the locker room in search of her friend. She was so pumped up on adrenaline from Victoria and the amazing, out-of-the-blue _kiss_ with _Alice_ that she did not even know what she would say, only that she desperately needed to find Alice and confront her.

_She can't just run away after that. She can't. It's not right. She just _kissed_ me! We have to talk! What was she thinking? She said just friends. That's what she said, so why would she do that? Damn it, where the hell _is_ she?_

It was all for naught, however, because Bella did not see her in the gym and after inquiring about her with Angela and Jessica and making up some bullshit excuse as to why she had taken so long in the locker room -more stomach issues, to which Angela suggested she see a doctor for- she found out that Alice had requested to go see the nurse, claiming she had a migraine.

And she never came back.

Bella called her three times when she got home and texted her four times, each one more desperate than the last.

_Pick up your phone!_

_Alice, seriously, please pick up your phone. _

_Alice, please. This isn't fair. We need to talk about this._

Bella hesitated on the last one, but her frustration had begun to take hold when she got absolutely nothing for her frantic efforts. She sent it while pacing back and forth in her room.

_Just pick up your damn phone Alice! Stop avoiding me! You can't kiss me like that and just run away! Please, I'm not mad, just answer the phone, or come talk to me, I don't care. Please, Alice. _

Nothing.

She got nothing at all.

And when she finally went to bed after waiting for hours for an answer, there was _still_ nothing. And when Saturday morning came, it was more of the same. She called two more times but even as she listened to the dial tone, she knew it was useless. She could feel it in her gut that Alice wasn't going to pick up, that that kiss had crossed a line, even though Bella wasn't exactly sure what that line was or what it meant.

All she knew was that as more time passed by and she still got no response from Alice, the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach grew, and grew, and grew, and as it did, so did her rising sense of anger towards Alice.

Everything was made all the more worse by how _incredible_ that kiss had been.

It had been unreal. It still felt surreal to think about it, like a sensation that blissful was not allowed to exist in reality.

_We kissed. Alice kissed me. She leaned in and _kissed_ me, and it was the best kiss, the best feeling I've ever had in my life. I've never felt anything like that before. I didn't even know feelings like that could exist. She was so beautiful and soft and she smelled so good, and she's my best friend but it was just a stupid kiss and I don't know why it means so much but it did, and now she won't even talk to me. She won't fucking talk to me after she kissed me, after telling me that we could never be anything but friends…_

But friends don't feel like that for each other. Friends don't die a little on the inside and live so much in one breathless kiss that two friends should not even be sharing. Friends don't yearn for one another the way Bella yearned for Alice.

And friends most certainly do not kiss one another the way Alice had kissed her, so sweetly, so heart breakingly, so intimately.

It was just a kiss. Just one kiss, and Bella could not get it off her mind for even a second. Alice consumed her thoughts, driving her crazy, and so she texted and called and left pleading voice messages but got nothing.

No answer, no reply, nada, zip, zilch, fuck all.

All the while her brain buzzed and her heart raced and every time she pictured it again in her mind, she felt like she was floating a few feet off the ground. She had never kissed someone and felt so much from it. Even when she had kissed Alice after biting her for the second time, when she was doped up on pheromones and half out of her mind had not made her feel so much. And she couldn't shake it, couldn't get it off her mind.

When Sunday rolled around, Bella tried one last time. She called Alice, clinging to the phone with tears lurking in her eyes, listening to the humming echo as the line tried to reach through and connect her to the voice of her best friend. There was a soft, faint click and Bella's breathing hitched in excitement-

"_I'm sorry, the person you are trying to reach is not available at this time. If you would like to leave a message_-"

"God _damn_ it!" Bella cried and mashed the end button as the robotic answering machine met her ears again.

_She won't pick up. She won't answer. She won't talk to me. _

The tears quivered at the corners of her eyes, and finally fell as she pressed her face into her hands and choked back a sob of frustration and hurt. Alice was avoiding her after taking an action in their friendship that could so easily destroy it, after going back on everything she said. She had reached into Bella's chest and cupped her heart in her hands, kissed it so lovingly, and then stolen away with it like a thief in the night before the brunette could do anything to stop her.

Helplessly, because she did not know what else to do, Bella sent Alice one last text. It was only one word.

_Please. _

She had not known how deep the feelings ran. They were pulsing through her core and her soul in a terrifyingly powerful way, and that kiss had sent them thrumming through her chest, and now Alice wasn't even picking up her _fucking_ phone.

After waiting silently for a solid five minutes, she got nothing.

Nothing, nothing, _nothing_.

The anger in her belly gave a sharp twist that made her clench her fists.

_Alice won't pick up. She won't answer. She won't talk to me_, she thought furiously. _After everything we've been through, she won't even do me the courtesy of picking up her phone to talk to me about it. She can't even do me the dignity of breaking my heart, of ruining us in person after _she_ kissed _me_. She won't talk to me…_

Bella stormed over to her dresser, grabbed her keys and snatched her jacket off of her bed before stomping out of her room and down the staircase, teeth gritted and eyes watery but hard. She burst out of her house and stomped over to her truck, which still wasn't fixed. The passenger side door was tied tightly shut through the handle to the headrest of the seat with a tarp over the shattered window. Looking at it made Bella even angrier as it reminded her of Alice defending her all over again, and when she got in she slammed the door so hard that the poor old vehicle shook before shoving the keys into the ignition and starting it up.

Thunder clapped faintly in the distance as she backed out of her driveway and then tore down the street, pressing the gas pedal almost to the floor as her furious emotions began to overwhelm her.

_Alice won't talk to me…But I'm for _damn_ sure going to talk to _her_._

* * *

"Why won't you talk to me Alice?" Jasper demanded as they stood in their room together.

Alice avoided his eyes, knowing it was useless. She crossed her arms and stared out the window, watching the storm clouds rolling in. Even inside she could smell the ozone in the air, the water swelling in the sky.

There was a storm coming, and from the looks of it, it promised to be nasty.

"Look at me," Jasper commanded when Alice couldn't bear to meet his eyes.

_I can't_, Alice thought weakly, closing her own instead._ I can't do it. Not now. Not anymore. Not after…_

"_Look_ at me!"

But she did.

Alice turned her gaze on to Jasper reluctantly, slowly. When she saw him standing there with his seething golden eyes fading rapidly to burnt amber, saw his frame trembling just slightly, it became all she could do not to break down in front of him.

But she couldn't. She didn't have the right to break down, not in her mind.

"I can feel you," Jasper said in a shaky voice. He took a step closer to her and Alice put a hand on his firm chest, feeling the way it shuddered when he breathed his deep, unnecessary breaths that must have filled his head with her scent. It clawed at her, made her own breathing ache as it matched his.

_He doesn't know what's wrong. He only knows that something_ is _wrong_, Alice acknowledged miserably. _And he knows it's bad. You can feel me, Jasper. You always could. And so you know…_

"I can feel what you feel. You know I can," he told her with a voice that was not as strong as he was trying to make it sound. "I can feel you hurting. I hate when I feel you hurting. And I can feel your guilt. You're ashamed, and you're aching, but you won't tell me _why_. You did something you regret. You're hiding something from me, and it's killing you. Please, Alice, just _talk_ to me. Tell me what's wrong. Tell me what happened. What did you _do_?" Jasper begged.

Alice shook her head helplessly, mutely chewing the inside of her lip as she stared back at him, hating herself, hating everything she felt and wishing for once that he couldn't feel it too.

"Please, just _tell_ me. You can tell me Alice. I won't be angry. I won't be mad at you, whatever it is. You can tell me, I promise," he insisted softly with his Southern accent becoming more pronounced in his distress.

He was grabbing at her heartstrings, pulling them with his pleading. Alice had loved him, been married to him for fifty years, and even to this day Jasper was still impossible to hurt without feeling all of it come back around to bitch slap her with the might of karma, or God, or some other wrathful force to punish her for it.

He was too good, too loving, too gentle and kind hearted to hurt. How could anyone ever look a man like Jasper Hale in the eyes and confess to something that would undoubtedly break him?

Alice couldn't. She hated herself for it, but she couldn't. She was confused and hurting, too, and she had done it all to herself, but she could not own up to it, not just yet. She couldn't find her footing, couldn't get a handle on her emotions when her emotions were never something that got out of her control until they were to the most extreme, the most volatile, the most intense.

Her phone chose that moment to chirp in her hand, where she had been cradling it all weekend, trying to pick it up when Bella called, trying to reply to her texts but never quite finding the courage to do it or never knowing just what to say.

She just didn't know. Alice didn't _know_ anymore. She didn't know her left from her right or her up from her down, what she really _felt_ anymore. She had kissed Bella. She had crossed the line between friends and something _more_, had betrayed Jasper's love in the ultimate way by cheating on him when she lost herself in Bella's eyes and _kissed_ her, kissed her with so much feeling and _longing_ that she had never felt before in her long, entire life.

How was she supposed to tell him that? _How_? How was she supposed to look Jasper in the eyes and tell him that Bella, an eighteen year old human girl, was blinding her? How was she supposed to tell her _husband_ of five decades that when she kissed Bella, she felt so _alive_ and real and _perfect_, as if her undead heart could actually beat, and that she had _never_ felt that way when she kissed him? How was she supposed to explain what was happening inside her traitorous, wretched heart when even she herself did not know?

She didn't _know_ anymore. She was so confused and torn and feeling things she shouldn't feel for Bella, and she didn't know what to do to make it better, to fix it, to find the solution because her heart was screaming at her but she had no idea what the hell it was trying to say.

So when her phone went off, she looked at it instead of answering Jasper, like a coward. It was a text from Bella, of course.

It was only one word, and that one word pierced through her chest like a spear and made her purse her lips to stop the onslaught of emotion that surged through her.

_Please_.

Just _please_. Nothing more, nothing less, and it very nearly broke her down right then and there.

And Jasper felt it.

"It's her, isn't it?" Jasper said softly, so softly she almost didn't hear him. Alice looked up quickly, her lips parting as she tried to find some way to hide the truth from him, but it was useless. He could feel what she felt, and there was no getting around it. He was not stupid, or oblivious. He knew how close she was to Bella, could undoubtedly feel the firestorm raging in her emotions whenever the girl came around. It was not so hard to guess who had been frantically trying to reach her all weekend, to guess the reason she had barely spoken a single word to him in two days, and could not meet his eyes until he couldn't stand it and cornered her at the current time in their bedroom to demand answers from her.

"Jasper, I-"

"It's _Bella_, isn't it? Tell me the truth, Alice. Just tell me if it's true," Jasper demanded, and when she opened her mouth to somehow deny it, soothe his fears, his worries, he gasped out one desperate word.

"_Please_."

Her heart cracked again, threatening to shatter, and Alice could only give in under the weight of both of their pleading, their need of her to answer them, to tell them what was happening inside her, what she was doing to them all. She was breaking every single one of their hearts, and she didn't know what to do to fix them again.

"_Yes_," Alice breathed, her eyes welling up. "Yes. It's _Bella_."

Jasper straightened at her confirmation, and Alice felt the stirrings of panic begin as his face tightened.

"Jazz, please, just listen to me-"

"Did you sleep with her?" Jasper cut her off, and Alice tensed.

"No, Jasper. I would never…_No_," she shook her head furiously, putting both hands on his chest now and gazing into his darkening eyes with desperation, a growing fear that he was about to leave her, end everything in one fell swoop building inside her.

She couldn't let that happen. She _loved_ Jasper. She was _in_ love with Jasper, wasn't she? Fifty years. It had been _fifty_ years, and the proof of it was on his finger, wrapped in a simple gold band of dedication. Bella couldn't erase all that, no matter what wild feelings she brought out in Alice.

But then why had she betrayed that ring when she kissed the girl? Why had she betrayed her supposedly undying, eternal love with Jasper for one sweet kiss?

It didn't matter. No matter what she felt for Bella, she couldn't lose Jasper. She _couldn't_.

At her sincere denial of the accusation, Jasper seemed to relax the slightest bit. Yet he still asked a moment later, "Did you kiss her?"

And Alice could not lie to him. There was no use denying it. Even if she had wanted to or tried to, he already had his answer when the influx of her shame and guilt pulsed through his powers, and he grimaced when she nodded miserably to affirm it.

"Yes," Alice breathed anyway, aching as she finally revealed to him the troubles of her heart, why she had been unable to even meet his eyes as of late, to touch him, to fall into his arms or kiss him or make love to him, anything.

She wanted to fall to her knees and beg for forgiveness when his eyes flashed and he shuddered, a low vibration humming under her fingers as he growled quietly.

"You kissed her," Jasper repeated, mouth tightening, and Alice's heart cracked a little more. It was his next question, however, that nearly smashed it altogether.

"Do you love her?"

It struck her stupid, honestly. Alice reared back, but he caught her wrists in his hands and held them tightly, almost too tightly. He stared deep into her eyes and refused to let her look away, and Alice could only give a feeble sob as the emotions inside her warred like two snarling dogs.

_I love_ you! She wanted to say, but couldn't. _I love you Jasper…And I don't know if I love her, too. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!_

How had it all gotten so twisted? How had Bella done this to her so easily?

If there was one thing that they both cherished in their relationship, one thing they could never go back on, it was honesty.

"I don't _know_," Alice answered morosely. "I don't know, Jasper, I just don't _know_. I don't know _anything_ anymore. I have feelings for her, and you know that. You can feel what I feel, and I can't make them stop. I don't know how to make it _stop_, and I'm sorry, but I know I love _you_, I _do_ b-but-I just-"

Jasper's hands dropped her wrists and clasped across her face. He hushed her softly and when she began to cry he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, snugly against him and Alice could only cling to him and sob, unbelievably grateful that he wasn't screaming at her or shoving her away even though she had no idea why he wouldn't.

Other than the fact that he loved her so very much.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Alice whimpered. "Jazz, I'm so _sorry_…"

"Shh," he whispered, petting her hair. "Alice, it's alright. I'm not mad at you, please don't cry."

Disbelief made her pull back and stare up into his now blackened eyes.

_He's not mad?_ How could he _not_ be mad? She had just confessed to having feelings for someone else, and to kissing them, but he wasn't _mad_?

"You like her," Jasper murmured, cupping her face again when he saw her staring. His voice was thick and grating now, the way it got when his instincts were hovering just beneath the surface. She could sense the pain in him when he spoke, and it killed her. _I put that pain in him_, she thought. _I did, by being a selfish, stupid idiot. And Bella made me that selfish, stupid idiot, because she's so unfathomably beautiful and…And perfect. Too perfect…_

"I know that. I think I've known that for a long time. Alice…Alice, it _hurts_. I won't lie to you. I hate that you feel anything for anyone at all other than me…But you love _me_. You _love_ me, don't you?"

"Of course!" she replied vehemently, her own hands going to his cheeks. She tensed when she felt him press against her, closely, melding their bodies together.

"And you don't _love_ Bella," he continued, his tone heavy and rugged now. She could see the vampire in him stirring restlessly. His control was still lacking, and it was hard to miss the possessiveness in his voice, the jealousy and anger despite his claim that he wasn't mad at her.

Yet when she opened her mouth to affirm that, no sound came out. Jasper kept going as if he didn't notice.

"You love _me_, and I love _you_. Sometimes people lose their way, Alice, I understand. I know more than anyone how confusing emotions can be and you and Bella are very close. But I _love_ you, with all my heart. And I know you love me too. I know you may be confused, but let me help you remember. Let me help you remember why we've been together for so long, why we love each other the way we do. Let me love you, Alice, and I swear you won't ever second guess again. Bella won't mean _anything_ to you compared to me if you let me love you, prove to you why you love me and not her or anyone else again," Jasper growled, and Alice was not surprised when he leaned in and kissed her firmly on the mouth.

She was not surprised, because she knew him so well. She could hear the heat in his voice, and felt him hardening against her, and did not resist when he moved in. Alice knew what he was trying to do, knew what he was trying to prove, trying to achieve. She could tell part of it was his inner vampire hungering to make his mark, remind her that she was his, but knew a big part of it was the fear in his heart, the need to reestablish to them both that Alice loved _him_, not Bella.

"Let me love you, Alice. Let me make love to you," Jasper rumbled against her lips, kissing her. "Let me help you remember who you love."

She knew what he was trying to do, and so she let him. She let him pull at her clothes and fall on top of her into their bed, but she did not say a word, and part of her wanted to say no because the last thing she really wanted right now was sex, while the rest of her submitted because she needed to know as much as he did.

Alice needed to know the answer to the question he had asked. She needed to know if she loved _only_ him, if when he entered her that it was only Jasper that she saw, Jasper that she wanted, Jasper that she needed, something she should not even be doubting in the first place…

There was something she still had not told him, something that had been eating her up since the moment it happened, and was one of the most front running thoughts that confused her head and heart so easily, that had started the war inside of her, and it was the fact that the night Victoria whipped her, when she was clinging to the post and trying to pretend with all her might that it was Jasper she wrapped her arms around, that she saw _Bella_ instead.

Alice had wished it were Bella she was clinging to for comfort. Jasper had been replaced with the image of the beautiful doe eyed human girl without her conscious permission. And for weeks now whenever she kissed him, she got flashes of the same. And now she needed to know if it would happen again, if when she wrapped her arms around Jasper as he kissed and bit at her neck and ran his hands over her body, if she had the real thing in her arms, if once more he would turn into Bella…

Alice needed to know if she still loved him the way she thought she did. But she also needed to know if she loved _Bella_, and more than that, if she loved her _more_.

* * *

By the time Bella pulled up to the Cullen residence and parked, her simmering anger had become a genuine rage.

_After all we've been through, and she can't even pick up her phone for one second. She kissed me, not the other way around, and now she won't even talk to me. Well, I've had it. Alice is going to talk to me, one way or another, damn it_, she thought furiously as she jumped out of her truck and flung the door shut. Another rumble of thunder echoed in the distance.

Bella noticed that the driveway was unusually empty. Usually at least three cars were parked in it because the garage was filled with a number of other expensive automobiles the Cullens had collected over the years, but today she got a prime spot halfway up the driveway, pulling in next to Alice's personal sleek yellow Lamborghini Aventador. She acknowledged it grimly, taking it as a sign that the pixie would indeed be home. The fact that Alice owned a car worth at least four hundred thousand dollars had worn off after seeing it so many times –Carlisle had lived for hundreds of years, and great money tended to be made when you were a beautiful and incredibly intelligent doctor- and it certainly didn't even cross her mind in the state she was in.

She stomped over to the door and debated ringing the doorbell, but she never did that anyway. She was over so much that it was common sense and expected of her to walk in without having to be let in, and the door was never locked because-well, why would a bunch of vampires need to lock their doors?

So Bella just twisted the knob and barged in, not even having the presence of mind to shut the door behind her. She hurried through the foyer and the living room, headed for upstairs to Alice's room where the pixie generally hung out, desperately hoping Esme wasn't here because if the Cullen matriarch stopped to greet her right now, she wasn't sure how polite or civil she could manage to be.

But lady luck was on her side, and not one Cullen appeared to be hovering around as she made her way up the staircase.

Bella was _fuming_. Alice had ignored her and avoided her for too damn long. The vampire had kissed her, and she would be damned if she was going to be ignored any longer. She had had _enough_.

_She's going to talk to me, and I'm going to yell at her, and we're going to settle this right here and now,_ she thought angrily, jogging down the hallway.

Still no Cullens had appeared. No Emmett popping up to grin and make a witty joke to her, no scowling Rosalie, no brooding Edward, no Jasper…And no Alice.

Bella was hesitant as she made her way to Alice's door, wondering if no one was actually home. It seemed like they were all on an outing together or something, or maybe having a family hunting time as they sometimes did. Maybe that was why she had not been able to get a hold of Alice…

But no, Alice always found a time to answer her, even with a short text to tell her she was busy. If Alice wasn't answering her for days, it was on purpose.

Bella was starting to think that maybe no one really was home anyway even as she approached Alice's door, and she hesitated, wondering if her irate state and the determination to talk to Alice was for nothing because the girl wasn't even here. Or any other of the Cullens for that matter. She wouldn't even get the chance to ask someone about Alice, demand that they tell her where she was or wait for the girl to come back.

And then she heard a quiet noise from behind Alice's door.

All her anger came rushing back, and it was with a mild sense of triumph and the anxiety of confrontation that she then burst into Alice's room.

"Alice! We need to-"

Pheromones blasted her dizzy.

Bella halted, freezing as a delicious scent flooded her brain. The smell of sex, mint, and a curious blend of berries and freshly mowed grass filled her nose, and the air in the room felt thick and hot.

But it was none of that that stopped her cold. It was not the pheromones, or the quality of the air, or the aroma that tugged at her lower belly insistently. It was none of that.

It was the sight of Alice, pinned beneath Jasper with her pale, lovely legs wound around his rocking waist, her face over his shoulder with her beautiful swirling oil slick eyes tearing _right_ into Bella, her pink heart shaped lips parted in ecstasy with her gleaming fangs fully extended as she moaned a sweet, high pitched moan and Jasper snarled vampirically above her.

For that brief moment when Alice's eyes met hers, she couldn't move. Her feet fused to the floor and shock made her knees lock up. She still clung to the doorknob, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

At the sound of Alice's moan, the trance broke.

Bella hurled herself backwards, yanking the door shut with an almighty _slam_ behind her. She let go of the knob as if it had seared her and staggered, almost falling over as a sick, nauseous feeling bloomed in her belly.

"Oh my God," Bella breathed, staring at the door in front of her.

_Oh my God_, she thought, and then she turned and bolted.

Her legs felt like jelly as the most _awful_ feeling she had ever felt pooled inside her chest and gut. It pulled at her insides, burned in her throat, closed it violently. She stumbled down the staircase, breathing hard for no clear physical reason other than the terrible emotion welling up inside her.

_Oh my God_, she thought. _Oh my God!_

She staggered into the living room, desperate to keep moving, to get away from the disgust and gut wrenching ache building in her. She felt strangely numb on the outside, and was not seeing anything in front of her.

All she could see was the image of Jasper on top of Alice, seared into her retinas like the bawdy flash of a camera, lingering in her vision despite her desperate wish for it to go _away_.

His narrow waist, thrusting between her thighs. The muscles of his back flexing as they moved beneath her slender hands. The way he tightened up when she trembled beneath him. The look on her face as he moved inside her.

Alice's face, screwed up in bliss, and the beautiful, terrible sound of pleasure she released, like an angel's cry, while her whirling ebony eyes plunged into Bella's soul.

"_God!_" Bella cried, screwing her eyes shut as she staggered out the front door and inhaled the outside air like a dying man heaving for his last breath. The cold oxygen did nothing to soothe her aching lungs.

She needed the images to _stop_.

They had to go _away_.

The hysterical urge to bleach her brain overcame Bella. She wanted nothing more than to dunk her mind in gasoline and set it on fire, burn away the image of them until it was ash and gone, till the memory was nonexistent, till she could believe she had never seen it at all.

But she couldn't.

And the emotion that was rippling through her frame right now had tears streaming down her face, and she couldn't say why it hurt so much, but it did. She knew Jasper and Alice had sex. They were married. They were married _vampires_ for God's sake. She _knew_ that.

But knowing it and seeing it were two wholly different things as she had come to find out, and she could not block it out.

It shouldn't hurt so much. It shouldn't matter. She shouldn't even care, but she did, and so she sprinted for her truck, fumbling with her keys as her heart hammered sickly in her chest.

She never got inside her truck.

"Bella!" a familiar, high pitched voice cried. It sent the hairs on the back of her neck shooting up and she tensed so violently that she tripped and dropped her keys on the concrete. Swearing in panic, in undeniable hysteria, she spun on one heel and wanted to scream or die or sob when she the blur that was Alice came darting out of the house and appeared right in front of her. She refused to get a good look at her, sure that if she did that she would have a meltdown, as if she weren't already.

"Bella, _stop_!" Alice begged when Bella lunged like a madwoman for her keys. Bella ignored her, scrambling for them and straightening only when she had them in her trembling fist. "Bella, stop it, _please_. Will you please just _stop_? _Bella!_"

"_WHAT?_" she exploded, whirling on her when Alice's voice rose to an insistent, unrelenting volume that clawed at her ears with its desperation. "What do you _want_?"

She was yelling, unreasonably so, and her voice cracked when she saw Alice fully.

The vampire stood before her in a white, long sleeved button up t-shirt where the buttons were all snapped up one too high and half the top ones weren't even done up, and a pair of black boy shorts, and nothing else.

Alice was standing close to her, close enough so that when Bella inhaled sharply, she smelled the sex on her, the mouth watering aroma of her white chocolate and berries scent with that underlying lacing of peppermint that all vampires produced. If it had been only this, Bella would have swooned, but no, Alice's scent was mixed with an overpowering smell of freshly mowed grass and maple syrup.

Jasper.

The smell of him on her made something inside her rear back and snarl in protest even as Alice stood before her with her jet black hair disheveled and her gorgeous face in an attire that should have made her blush, but didn't because she knew _why_ Alice looked as ruffled and underdressed as she did.

Because they had been having sex.

Alice and Jasper had been _fucking_.

And she could not get the image of it out of her head, and it _killed_ her.

"I want you to calm _down_. Bella, what are you _doing_ here?" Alice demanded, tone beseeching as Bella stared at her with her eyes streaming and burning and her face screwed up.

Bella had no answer for her, not anymore.

"I'm leaving. I was just going," she breathed out, realizing that she couldn't tell Alice the truth of why she had come, not now. She couldn't do it, not after seeing them together. Her anger had been replaced by that nauseous feeling still swirling in her stomach, a devastated sort of pain. "I'm not-I didn't mean-I'm sorry for barging in. I shouldn't have-I'm sorry. I'm just leaving…"

Alice looked at her with disbelief and unbelieving eyes, not fooled for a second.

"Bella, stop it. Why are you crying? What's _wrong_? Don't-I'm sorry you saw that. I didn't know-If I had known you were coming over, I never would have…"

Alice trailed away when Bella's face screwed up in anguish, and all the emotions crushing her chest came surging back before she could control them.

"Of _course_ you didn't know. You wouldn't pick up your phone and talk to me!" she yelled, balling up her fists.

Bella was aware that she was running entirely on emotion right now. She couldn't think, just feel. It was a terrifying sensation at the same time that it was liberating.

But Alice drew back, affronted at her tone. Her worry over Bella quickly melted to indignation.

"No, I didn't. It doesn't feel too good to be ignored, does it?" Alice snapped, and Bella swelled up furiously.

"That was _different_! _You_ told me we didn't need to talk anymore, _remember_? _You_ told me we were getting too close for comfort, so _I_ backed off! And _you're_ the one that kissed me, not the other way around! So you don't get to ignore me like that, Alice!" Bella snarled, unable to control herself.

She knew though, and so did Alice, that they were fighting for a real reason, not just randomly going off on each other. Everything they had been smothering was about to be shoved to the surface, courtesy of Bella's had-enough-of-this-shit attitude, and the fact of what had set her off.

"Why are you _yelling_ at me?" Alice demanded irately, her own voice rising. "What is wrong with you, Bella? You come barging into my room and then go rushing out, crying, and now you're shouting at me. What is the _matter_ with you?"

The fact that Alice was asking her that _infuriated_ Bella.

It wasn't like she didn't know. There was no way Alice couldn't know why Bella was yelling and crying and had run out so fast. Alice knew her better than that. Alice knew everything that had happened between them, and she was lying through her perfect _fucking_ teeth if she was going to play dumb like she didn't know what the matter with Bella was.

"_Because_, Alice!" Bella cried, throwing up her hands and staring at her with what could only be a hint of the hurricane of feeling swirling inside her.

She shouldn't be _feeling_ this much. She shouldn't be acting or reacting this way. It shouldn't hurt so much to look into Alice's eyes and see her pretty face, shouldn't be so difficult to be in her presence.

"Because _what_, Bella? What _is_ it!" Alice yelled, her shoulders hunching as her jaw locked up, that one tantalizing muscle going in it. Her anger seemed to be only a reaction to Bella's, a defense mechanism. Bella could see the maelstrom in her eyes, the windows of her soul giving away the only hint to the fact that she was as high strung and _feeling_ as much as Bella was, though what she was actually feeling, Bella could never say.

_Because_, Bella thought furiously. _Because…_

She didn't know what. But then again, deep down, she did. She could feel it rising, ascending slowly, an epiphany seconds from being realized. Her mind whirled a thousand miles a minute, everything overloading, working over as she fell apart in front of Alice for that one reason she just couldn't grasp.

The clouds above boiled, gunmetal gray, the world darkening a shade. They trembled with the rain pooled inside them.

"_Because_!" Bella repeated helplessly, shrinking back now, frightened of everything she was feeling. She didn't know what to say, how to explain to Alice why she was crying or why she had run out, or why she was so angry at her and _hurting_.

But Alice did not relent.

"Because _what_!" Alice exploded, gesturing wildly with one hand, flinging it out wide. "_What_, Bella? What is _wrong_? Tell me, Bells, _please_, because I really don't fucking know! I don't know how to help you if you won't tell me what's _wrong_! Why are you crying? Why are you so upset? Because of _what_?"

"Because _I LOVE YOU!_" Bella screamed.

A flash of lightning lit up the world and a mighty boom of thunder _cracked_ across the sky above them, and the skies opened up and began to pour.

Alice froze, lips parted and eyes wide, both literally and figuratively thunderstruck.

Bella was the same, her chest heaving as the rain came down in a sudden torrent, showering the world. The only sound was of it hitting the ground, pattering down on her truck and Alice's car, the rustle of it splashing into the grass. They were both soaked through almost instantly.

_I love her_, Bella realized as they both stood silently, statue still.

_I love her…_

The sincerity of it, the raw truth and finality of it settled over her.

Bella did not just _like_ Alice. She _loved_ her. These feelings were far too strong to be a simple crush.

The hurricane inside her seemed to quiet down, the gale force winds ripping and tearing at her heart lessening to a soft breeze that was almost soothing even as anxiety wrestled with it.

Bella loved Alice. She loved her…

That was why it hurt so much. That was why she couldn't stand to see her with Jasper. That was why she was crying, and why she grew so angry and hurt that she stormed into her house without warning. That was why the kiss had been so beautifully and utterly perfect, so eye opening.

Because she loved her.

"I love you," Bella repeated, her voice cracking when Alice only stared, her hair sticking to her face and her expression totally unreadable. It was astonishing how much she knew it to be true, how she had not known before now that she had said it aloud.

Yet she had just told Alice, just admitted it to her in the fit she had had to realize it.

And there was _no_ taking that back.

"You love me?" Alice breathed as if in a dream, her whole face smoothing out into a mask that terrified Bella.

_This is it_, she thought. _I've finally found the one thing that will really break us._

Because love was a whole lot different than liking each other. Being in love with Alice changed things entirely.

"I love you, and I'm sorry," Bella whimpered, folding her arms around her middle protectively. "I'm crying because of that, because I know what that means. I n-never meant-I didn't mean to fall for you, but somehow I have. I know that now, and I'm sorry. I'm _sorry_."

Alice didn't say anything and her silence was a dagger to Bella's heart. She took a shaky breath, trembling as the cold rain seemed to seep into her bones.

_I don't know how it came to this. And I don't know how to save us this time_, Bella thought miserably. _All I have is what I've told her, and I can't take it back now. _

"So that's why I'm leaving, Alice. I was just going to go. And I know-I know it's not fair for me to be upset or angry with you over what you and Jas-What you and him were-"

Bile rose in the back of her throat and she couldn't get the words out.

"It's none of my business, and I have no right to be upset. I know-I know you kissed me, and I-I know you like me, but I also k-know that it's not…You don't _love_ me. You love Jasper, and that's okay. That's fine. I get that," Bella continued, her voice shaking.

She knew she was rambling, but the longer Alice stared, so expressionless, not giving anything away, not saying a word, the more she felt like she needed to say something, anything.

"So that's why…I'm not…This isn't to pressure you-Or ask you for anything more. I was going to come here today and demand we talk about the kiss but I know-I get it now, how it is, and that's fine. You're with Jasper, and you will be forever, and n-nothing can happen between us…So I'm just going to go, okay? And if you…If you don't want to be friends anymore, I'll understand…"

Her voice broke so pitifully that she had to stifle a sob, and Alice's eyes visibly flashed at the sound of it.

God, Bella's heart was _breaking_. She could feel it, little pieces of it breaking away and falling in jagged shards that cut the inside of her chest.

She _loved_ Alice, and Alice loved _Jasper_, and this would be their breaking point. She could tell by Alice's reaction that there was no getting back from this admission, from her epiphany.

So she found out she loved the girl and was going to lose her all at the same time.

"Just let me know, okay? At least say goodbye if that's how it's going to be. If you can't be friends with me anymore, I understand. B-But please…At least give me that much. At least say goodbye. I love you, Alice, and I'm sorry for it. I'm sorry I love you and if I could make it stop I would, but I can't. I'm _sorry_."

"You love me," Alice said again, tonelessly, this time stating it. Bella was almost exasperated by the fact that this was all she was getting from Alice.

"_Yes_," Bella breathed. "Yes, Alice. _I love you_."

Maybe if she said it like that it would really get through to the girl.

She waited breathlessly for something more from Alice, anything, and died on the inside when she still got _nothing_. She was _still_ getting nothing from her, and so nothing would have to be what she took.

Bella turned, keys in hand, and took a step towards her truck, her heart and legs so heavy that it took all her effort to move them. She needed to move them faster, so she could leave and break the fuck apart in peace, not in front of Alice like the pathetic person she was. She had to _go_. The urgency to be _away_ from this returned with a vengeance.

"_Bella._"

At the sound of her name, Bella swiftly turned back, hopeful despite herself.

And Alice was on her.

She barely had time to gasp before Alice was kissing her, cupping the back of her head to pull them together. Bella breathed in lightning as Alice _kissed_ her, _kissed_ her with a passion that was so intense that it was like leaping from a plane with no parachute, arms wide open, and instead of falling downward, she _soared_ upwards.

She was _flying_.

She didn't know why Alice did it. She had no idea why Alice was suddenly kissing her.

All she cared was that she did, and it felt fucking _incredible_.

The floating feeling magnified by a thousand as Alice wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled them flush to each other while stepping forward until Bella's back hit the grill of her truck, hard enough to hurt in only the best possible way. Bella cried out into Alice's mouth, tasting the berries on her lips, the white chocolate on her tongue as it dipped into her mouth.

She hated the foreign taste of pears she found lingering in Alice's mouth, but it only made her kiss back twice as hard, a primal urge to erase any hint of Jasper with her own self, and shuddered when Alice moaned her beautiful moan in response.

It was amazing how much better she sounded when it was _Bella_ making her do so and not anyone else. It sent tingles shooting up her spine, electricity coursing through her nervous system as Alice pressed against her and lifted her onto her tiptoes, hands grabbing for the human's waist and squeezing at her hips as Bella's fingers raked through her black locks.

_Jesus Christ! _Bella thought in exhilaration as she felt Alice's breasts pressing into hers. The pixie wasn't wearing a bra, and the thought that if she properly looked down she would see the outline of them through the shirt made her toes curl as Alice kissed her and kissed her and _kissed_ her until she thought she might pass out from lack of oxygen, or die.

And if she died right then, so be it. It would be a brilliant death, an undyingly happy way to go. She did not know why Alice was kissing her, or what had possessed her to do so, only that she never, ever wanted her to stop.

It was not the sexuality of it that made the thrill coursing through her veins so strong, though. The kiss from before didn't compare. It was _nothing_ to the way that it felt right then, when Bella's heart leapt out of her chest and went sailing away, high above the storm clouds, into a place where she had not known it could reach. Her whole body hummed in response to Alice's touch. Her world shifted into a clear cut focus revolving around Alice, the way Alice tasted, the way she felt, the way she moved, who she was and how much Bella _loved_ her.

She really, _really_ loved her, and kissing her while knowing that she loved Alice like this made it so much better. It wasn't just fireworks. It was not sparks. It was a roaring, unadulterated wildfire, a supernova that spread throughout her limbs, warming her in the icy rain, the cold temperature of Alice's skin somehow heating her up instead of freezing her.

But Alice made it even better than that.

Just when Bella was ready to pass out for real, not caring that she couldn't breathe because of how they kissed so furiously, so desperately and adoringly and passionately and how amazing it felt, Alice pulled away.

The terror she felt at that was indescribable, as she waited for Alice to drop her and run like before, but that didn't happen.

"God _damn_ it, Bella!" Alice gasped against her mouth, pressing their foreheads together as she stared right into Bella's eyes, their pupils centimeters away from each other. Bella whimpered at the closeness, clinging so tightly to Alice's shoulders in her fear that the girl would run now, would leave after _that_.

She couldn't. Alice wouldn't _dare_. She _couldn't_.

"God _damn_ it, Bella," Alice said again, softer and in a broken voice. Bella trembled against her as Alice cupped her cheeks and held them tightly. Bella could feel her hands shaking, feel the softness of her breasts, the curves of her waist; a stark opposition to the metal grill digging into her back.

She waited with bated breath, chest heaving, and whimpering when Alice dotted several swift, chaste kisses to her mouth, until Bella could stand it no more and kissed her firmly again even though she wasn't sure if she was allowed to initiate it, but the vampire groaned and kissed her back briefly before reluctantly prying their mouths apart once more as if it was physically difficult to do so. It sure as hell was physically impossible for Bella to do so. The only way their lips would ever break apart was if Alice did it for them.

"Bella," she gasped weakly, and Bella kept her eyes wide open as Alice kept their foreheads pressed together and stared into her, down deep into the intimate heart of her, her eyes a tempest, her face so beautiful in the rain, her frosty breath puffing tantalizingly over Bella's lips.

"Bella, _I love you too_. I love you _too_."

Bella shuddered violently, her lips parting in shock.

_What? There's no way…No…Did she just say…_

_She loves me too?_

"God _damn_ me for it, but I love you too, Bella. I love you too," Alice sobbed, clenching her eyes shut and leaning into her so heavily that her back creaked in protest, but she didn't care.

She did not care about anything, nothing but what Alice had just admitted to her, just breathed against her lips in a breaking, broken, adoring and emotionally saturated voice.

_She loves me too,_ Bella wondered, and her heart exploded with some joyous sensation that made her give a hysterical half sob half laugh, not believing it even as she did.

"You love me too?" she gasped, the sky shuddering with another flash of lightning and thunder.

"_Yes_," Alice breathed, eyes opening again, so close that Bella could have counted each long dark lash, and Bella knew deep in her resonating soul that it was true. "I love you too, Bella, _I love you too_…"

There was nothing else Bella could do but surge forward and kiss her again. She gripped Alice's face tightly in her hands and died and lived more in that moment than she ever had before, because Alice loved her _too_.

She knew the sob Alice released into her mouth was as miserable as it was elated, and that broke her heart, but Alice kissed her back so desperately that she could not linger on it.

_I love Alice. And she loves me. _

_We love each other_, Bella thought, kissing and clinging to her. _Alice loves me. _

Bella knew that she could stay right there forever, kissing Alice into eternity, forever locked in that one blissful, perfect moment.

Alas, like all good things, it had to come to an end.

And so it did when the sound of a guttural snarl met her ears and Alice spun away from her so fast that she was a little dumbstruck, and Bella peeled her eyes open to see that it was Jasper who had ripped her from her heaven as he stepped off the front porch, naked from the waist up. The jeans he wore hung low on his hips and his lean, shaking muscular form was drenched as he stepped towards them, out from under the porch ceiling and into the rain. His honey golden ringlets drooped around his ears, and his upper lip was curled back to reveal very deadly looking fangs.

"Jasper," Alice whispered, and he looked to her with eyes so black that Bella was not sure if his irises were blending into his pupils, or if his pupils had dilated so far that they had consumed his irises.

"Alice," he rumbled in a ragged, gravelly voice that was not at all his own.

And then he looked to Bella, with her own soaking form shivering in the rain, saw her milk chocolate eyes that were now dark chocolate, saw her heaving chest, and saw more than anything else her bruised, kiss swollen lips.

"_BELLA!_" Jasper snarled.

And then he lunged for her.

* * *

_**Ewww, I know, het sex, gross. Look, it's for the plot. Don't crucify me please :P If I had it my way Alice would never have her lady bits touched by anyone but girls. Mostly Bella. But for the purposes of this story, that's not how it is lol. So just...Close your eyes and picture the awesome sex scene I'm eventually going to write for these two ;) I'll do my best to make it super steamy so your poor brains can be rid of these images. Goodness knows Bella's will ;)**_

_**Anyway. Yeah. I cut it down! And the funny part is I still had way more planned for this chapter. But now it has to be a cliffhanger, so I don't give myself carpal tunnel or burn myself out lol. I hope you guys enjoyed the rest of it, even though I know some will be cringing over that Jasper/Alice stuff. Hopefully that kiss made up for it :P**_

_**So yeah. Much love for the massive amounts of love, everyone. I hope you guys are still enjoying this as much as I am writing it. Everyone seems to be at least, so I hope I can keep that up. **_


	15. Chapter 15

Bella honestly thought she was about to die and could only stare in horror with wide open eyes as Jasper lurched at her in a blur, hands outstretched into claws that seemed intent on ripping into her throat.

She wasn't sure who screamed first; her, or Alice.

In any other circumstance, it might have been embarrassing how high her voice got, but as it was.

"Jasper, NO!" Alice cried, and as Bella's brain registered the impending doom, she reacted without thinking, doing the only thing her panicking mind could manage to make her body do.

Bella dropped like a fucking rock.

She _ducked_ at the last second, and Alice slammed into Jasper with a _crack_ louder than any other thunderclap the storm above could produce as his hands swiped an inch above her head.

_Holy shit! _Bella gasped as she hit the pavement, jarring her hands against the driveway, and Alice tackled Jasper so hard that they went flying. On her hands and knees, she looked up in horror as the sound of furious snarling.

Alice was fighting Jasper. They were _fighting_ like two wild beasts, hissing and baring their fangs and going _at_ it.

No, no, no, this was not how this was supposed to go!

Hysterical concern for Alice's safety overrode anything else in Bella's brain as she watched them whirling together, clashing in a flurry, Jasper's face twisted up into animalistic violence as he lost himself to his instincts and Alice's screwed up with desperation and a fierce protectiveness…

And _fear_.

Jasper was the best fighter out of all the Cullens. He had gone to battle with more than his fair share of crazy newborn vampires in his own newborn days, and at heart he was a soldier. The marks littering his body from the scarring of vampire venom were proof of that, and now he was going at Alice as if she were not his wife of fifty years, as if he didn't even know her at all.

And by the way he moved, it was clear that right then, he didn't. He knew nothing more than what his instincts were screaming inside him.

He was really going to _hurt_ her.

"Oh no," Bella whimpered, her heart giving a horrified spasm as she stayed frozen to the concrete.

She watched in terror as Jasper landed flat on his back when Alice shoved him with all her might, yelling at him something that sounded like his name, and _stop_. To Bella, he had not even hit the ground before he was back up and swinging his hand at her face, unhearing and bellowing in rage. Alice jerked her face back just in time to avoid losing it, but Jasper closed with her too fast for her to get out of the way.

"Alice!" Bella cried as the blonde man vaulted into her, sending dirt flying up beneath the force of his heels as they went sailing through the air again. They crashed through the front porch banister and into the living room window with the sound of crunching wood and shattering glass.

There was a brief moment of silence where all Bella could hear was the rain falling around her, and then the sound of something seeming to explode within the house, and the sound of Alice letting out a high pitched cry rang out.

_No_, Bella thought desperately. _I have to get up. I have to help! I have to _do_ something!_ _For Alice!_

But there was nothing she _could_ do as her stomach jumped into her throat when a moment later, Jasper leapt back out of the hole they had left in the window and crouched, hissing like an agitated cobra with eyes blacker than midnight, lost to the monster inside.

Those eyes found Bella instantly.

"Shit," she gasped, tensing.

Jasper snarled an ungodly snarl at the sight of her that put the most unbridled, unadulterated terror deep in her bones. The sound of it raised the hairs on the back of her neck, made her breath go stale in her lungs, and she couldn't help but cry out.

Just as he jerked to come after her and presumably finish what he had started, Alice appeared behind him with the most vicious look on her face that Bella had ever seen. Her fae like features were sharp and brutal as she leapt onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck with a furious silence that did not give away her surprise assault.

Jasper roared in rage and spun in circles, clutching at her arms, but Alice did not let go.

"_Bella_!" Alice cried out to her when the brunette stayed where she was, trembling helplessly and very close to peeing her pants. "Bella, _RUN_! _Go_! Get the hell out of here, Bella! _GO_!"

It made plenty of sense, but Bella couldn't make her limbs work. She couldn't make _any_thing work. She wasn't even breathing as Jasper staggered off the mutilated porch, and then with one almighty wrench, he ripped Alice over the top of his head by her clinging arms and slammed her into the ground so hard that it seemed to shake.

Bella's blood ran cold as Alice shuddered and laid very still, cracks lancing up the back of her neck and spider webbing up her cheeks.

No…

_No!_

"_Alice_!" Bella wailed, but this turned out to be a tactical error as Jasper, fuming even more than before and shaking wildly, turned on her, and this time when he lunged for her, there was no Alice to stop him.

Bella's fight or flight instinct kicked in, though it was nowhere near as powerful as his flaring vampiric ones.

There was nothing she could do.

There was no escape.

Nowhere to run.

Nowhere to hide…

Or was there?

Bella flattened herself to the pavement and did the only thing she could think to do.

She rolled right under her truck, shrieking in fright when she felt the wind from Jasper's snatching hands fly by her face. She scrambled back as he bellowed in fury, bumping her shoulder painfully against the underside of the truck and scraping her arms and one cheek on the driveway in her desperation to get the hell _away_ from him. The heavy smell of petrichor filled her nose.

_Fuck fuck fuck, shit shit shit! _Her higher thinking was reduced to a litany of internal swears.

Vaguely, Bella thought she heard the screech of squealing tires, but she was too preoccupied with the fact that she was about to die, and that Alice was lying unmoving on the ground, and that she loved her, and so did Jasper, and that was why he had lost it and was about to _kill_ her, and that she had never meant for any of this to happen when she decided to come here today.

Why did she have to fall in love with Alice? Why, why, _why_?

She shuffled further back under her truck, practically hyperventilating, knowing the most she had done was buy herself another precious few seconds of life, and even that was all for naught, because one second the truck was there, giving her whatever feeble protection it could, and the next, it was gone.

With the horrible _crunch_ and a shriek of tortured metal, Jasper unceremoniously kicked her truck out from over her and down the driveway. She heard it crash down somewhere back in the street. Bella started violently at the sound of it, and when she looked up and saw Jasper standing over her, soaked and radiating power with his lean, muscular form smeared with mud and grass and wicked looking fangs out, she could manage only one last thought, only a single word.

_Alice._

Jasper lurched down for her, reaching for her neck.

And, as usual, Alice saved the day at the last possible second.

"_NO!_" Alice snarled in a voice that was so vehement and deep and like nothing the girl should even be able to produce, a vicious declaration from deep in her gut that tore out of her chest in a rumbling cry.

Bella felt a terrible thrill of disbelief run through her when Alice jumped once more out of nowhere onto Jasper's back and hooked her fingers under his jaw. She cranked back so hard and fast that the shockingly unfitting tinkling sound of glass cracking accompanied the sudden rips in Jasper's skin that appeared beneath Alice's fingertips.

She was going to _kill_ him!

"No! Alice, _no_!"

Bella nearly had a heart attack as a different feminine voice cried out and then three blurs shot past her and slammed into Jasper and Alice, sending them all sprawling into the wet grass, effectively saving Jasper's life.

She caught sight of a shock of white blond hair, and recognized Rosalie as the temptress grabbed a hold of Alice by the waist and hauled her sister off of Jasper at the same time that Bella watched the familiar forms of Emmett and Edward pin a bucking, roaring Jasper to the earth by his shoulders.

She had not been imagining things when she had heard the sound of squealing tires before.

The rest of the Cullens were back.

They were _back_.

"Bella, oh Bella," a soft voice murmured in her ear, and Bella jumped and whimpered, barely even relaxing when she realized it was Esme.

The familiar, soothing scent of vanilla and caramel filled her nose as she was suddenly bundled up in the woman's arms and then pulled to her feet by the Cullen matriarch.

_Jesus Christ_, she wondered, clinging to Esme as her knees wobbled and the vampire's arms wrapped protectively around her, comfortingly. She had never been so happy to see any of them in her life, but the rush of affection she felt for Esme when the woman only held her closer was even stronger. Carlisle darted past them with the faint hint of his own scent of green tea and sandalwood. Her heart pounded relentlessly in her chest as Rosalie forcefully pulled a shivering Alice towards the front door.

As Bella stared at them, her emotions running at an all time high, Alice's eyes came up and locked on to hers. They were so black, blacker than Bella had ever seen them, and she had no idea what she felt other than the overwhelming desire to run at Alice and fling her arms around her neck and cling to her with everything she had even as she saw Alice still baring her fangs, clearly vamping out. She couldn't read the powerful expression on her friend's face, and Alice seemed to be struggling weakly against Rosalie's grip, but the blonde still managed to shove her through the front door and slam it shut behind them, and only then did their eye contact break.

_Alice_, Bella thought. _Oh god, Alice, what just happened?_

"Move him. Out to the back. _Quickly_," Carlisle ordered.

Emmett and Edward wordlessly hauled Jasper up and dragged him by his arms, kicking and snarling the whole way around the side of the house.

Like Alice, Jasper's eyes never left hers, but the emotion there was a complete opposition to what she had seen in the girl's. If Jasper had not hated her before, he certainly did now. There was nothing human left in his face, only vampire. Bella trembled at the hatred in them, the primal violence throbbing in his dilated pupils, until all the Cullen boys disappeared out of sight.

Then it was only her and Esme, standing out on the Cullen front lawn, hugging each other tightly, the rain still pouring down, drenching the world, caring not for what it soaked or drowned. Another insistent rumble of thunder coupled with a bright flash of lightning startled an already tense Bella so badly that she yelped and jumped.

Bella shivered wildly and Esme hushed her gently and cradled her to her chest, and as she did, Bella realized she could not help but wish Esme were Alice instead.

* * *

Alice had never felt so out of control in her entire life.

Rosalie was still pushing her along, swearing at her under her breath. The blond had both arms around her waist and was pulling her against one hip. As much as Alice wanted to break free of Rosalie, fight her off with all she had, she did not.

Because even under the maelstrom the vampire inside her had created to dull her rational thinking, she knew better.

She wanted more than anything in the world to go back to Bella, to run back to her. To bury her fangs in Bella's throat and quell the bloodlust that had begun burning in the back of her own, to even take her like the animal she had become.

To tell her she loved her, loved her so much that it _hurt_, that it was _still_ piercing through her even as she warred with the most innate instincts born into her the moment she became a vampire.

To hold Bella tightly, to protect her from any harm, including herself, no matter the cost, even if it meant fighting every bloodthirsty, violent instinct clawing at her conscious brain and letting Rosalie continue to pull her away when everything inside her screamed for her to do the opposite.

Because she had to keep Bella safe.

Because she _loved_ Bella. She _loved_ her, and so she would do _anything_ to save her, _no matter_ the cost…

Even if that cost had been Jasper's life.

_Oh God_.

Alice sobbed some weird, broken sound as Rosalie swore for the thousandth time and hauled her further into the forest behind their house, dragging her far, far away from the scene of one of the worst and best moments of her life.

"Come the fuck _on_. Stop dragging your feet! Jesus Christ, Alice, did you even do? You idiot, you stupid selfish idiot!" Rosalie hissed and yanked her around, giving her a rough shove so that Alice was forced to walk in the right direction with Rosalie's hands clinging to her elbows to prevent her from bolting back towards the house.

Alice moved numbly, not breathing, not seeing, the inside of her mind at war.

It was only when Rosalie shoved her into a tiny clearing and she came face to face with Jasper once more that she came back to herself.

It was the sight of him on his knees with Emmett and Edward embracing him from the side, and Carlisle's arms wrapped around his neck from behind, cradling and not restraining as he rocked back and forth and sobbed that snapped her out of it.

"Oh God," Alice whimpered, a hand going to her mouth as the horror of it all hit her.

_What have I done?_

The sound of her voice attracted Jasper's attention, and what she got for it was not his familiar gentle smile, or his kindly golden eyes filled with affection, but a terrible snarl that ripped from the back of his throat as his gaze locked onto her.

Her heart fell apart.

All the jagged cracks and blows it had taken finally gave in. It was almost a curious sensation at the same time that it was anguishing. Her heart simply fell, very slowly, very deliberately out of her body, and her bottom lip quivered as he gave her a look filled with so much anguish and desperation that she could not stand it.

_How did it get like this? _She wondered miserably.

"J-Jasper-"

"_Why_?" he gasped, his voice cracking as his chin pressed into Carlisle's forearm and he dug his fingers into Emmett's and Edward's, which wrapped around his torso. He was shaking, and his eyes were shimmering oil.

They all stared at her. No one said a word, not even Carlisle. Alice felt the heat of the spotlight descend on her, and wished that it was only her and him, that this did not have to happen in front of anyone else, that she didn't have to do this to him in front of everybody. She wished that she didn't have to do it at _all_.

But she did.

She had to. Before, Alice had not known. She had no answer readily available for _why_. She didn't know _why_ she was so into Bella. She didn't know _why_ she couldn't get her mind off of the girl. She didn't know _why_ she felt things for that girl that she had _never_ felt for Jasper, or anyone else for that matter, not in her whole long life. She didn't know _why_ she could not suppress or stop the feelings she had for Bella, could not resist them no matter how hard she tried.

And now she did.

And so she told him.

"Because I love her," Alice whispered with every ounce of courage she could muster, and Jasper sobbed another gut wrenching sob, mixing it with a growl.

"You're supposed to love _me_, Alice!" he bellowed, and with a show of strength, he surged to his feet, pulling Emmett and Edward with up him. Carlisle released him as they gripped his arms to keep him from doing anything dangerous, but Alice knew better. Jasper wasn't going to attack her. He never would hurt her, not for any reason other than if he were vamped out.

He was all too himself now. She almost would have preferred him trying to rip her face off as opposed to this.

Alice didn't say a word as he began to rage.

"I love you, so damn much that it's _killing_ me. And you're standing there after _kissing_ her, moments after making love to me, telling me that you _love_ her? How _could_ you, Alice?" Jasper cried, his fists clenching and unclenching.

Yet her own emotions came roaring up, and Alice was yelling back before she knew what she was doing, still strung so tightly and breaking just as much as him.

"I didn't _ask_ for this, Jasper! It's not like I _meant_ for any of this to happen! I didn't plan to fall for her, but I did, and I'm sorry! I'm so fucking-I'm _sorry_, but I can't make it stop. Don't you think if I could that I would? Don't you think I _tried_? What do you think I was doing when we made love, Jasper? I was trying to love _you_, not her. That's what I've _been_ doing, and it doesn't work, and I can't make it stop. I can't make it _stop_," Alice's shouting dropped to a barely stifled sob, but Jasper shook his head furiously, disgust and frustration building on his face.

It was the awful truth of it. No matter how hard she had tried, when she had been beneath Jasper, all she could see was Bella. When the carnal part of her brain took over, it was Bella she wanted, not him. It was Bella's body she wanted to writhe beneath, Bella's back she wanted to scratch at, Bella's lips she wanted on hers.

She hated herself even more because of it, but it had not been until she walked outside and heard Bella confess her love that the reality of it really hit her.

How could it not when Bella stood before her, breaking, screaming it in her face as Alice pushed her, already knowing the answer but denying it to herself up until the last second, even when she had not known she was doing anything but attempting to confront the truth head on like she always did?

"Don't give me that bullshit! You've known her for less than a year and now you're in love with her? We've been married for fifty years, Alice! _FIFTY YEARS_!" Jasper screamed, shoulders bunching up, his every word stabbing at her chest. "We've been together for so _long_. We have loved each other for so. _Long_. Fifty years ago I put that ring on your finger, Alice, and for just as long I've worn the one you put on mine. Doesn't that mean _anything_ to you?"

His voice had become a soft, desperate plea that made Alice want to put her hands up and shy from him, anything to combat the agony she could hear in his voice.

But she couldn't lie to him. She could not shy away. There was no use trying to fight the truth, when Alice knew it so well in her breaking heart. Denying it now would only hurt them both in the long run anyway.

"It used to," Alice breathed, hugging herself and hating every word she knew needed to come out of her mouth as his upper lip curled back, his fangs extending fully as his chest rumbled violently.

"_Used_ to?" Jasper gawked in disbelief. "It _used_ to mean something to you? Do you not love me at _all_? Did you _ever_ love me?"

At this accusation, the emotion in Alice, her own vampire, surged so swiftly and furiously, swelling over and breaking before she could stop it.

"Jesus Christ, Jasper, what do you want me to _say_? Do you want me to lie to you? Because I _can't_. I can't do it anymore! _Yes_, I loved you, Jasper! I _loved_ you, I still _do_ love you! But _not_ the way that I love Bella! I'm not in love with you, and-And I-I don't think I ever was."

Her breath hitched so tightly and he reared back as if she had slapped him right across the mouth.

And Alice never hated herself more than in that moment, but she couldn't take it back, and she couldn't sugar coat it, or fix it, or make it better. There was nothing she could do to change it.

She had never felt for anyone the way she felt for Bella. She knew that without a doubt now. She had thought what she had with Jasper was what being in love felt like, but no…

Bella had opened her eyes, and all she wanted to do was screw them shut again, but she couldn't.

"I'm so sorry, Jasper, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I love Bella _more_. I'm _in_ love with her, and I don't love you the way I love her. I'm _sorry_," Alice whimpered as he shook his head, this time with growing panic in his eyes.

"You don't mean that. It's not true," he breathed. "Alice, that's not true. You can't mean that. You do love me like that. You know you do…"

Alice's hands went to her hair in anguish, because the last thing she could deal with right now was anything but what needed and had to be said, the truth.

So the next thing she said was the hardest one about what she was trying to deal with.

"Jasper, I almost _killed_ you!"

The resounding silence that came after that made Alice a second away from a panic attack. She trembled wildly as Jasper stared at her, his face frighteningly expressionless, almost as if he had not heard her.

The realization of what she had almost done made a pervasive nausea pool in her lower belly, and she nearly wanted to heave even if she could not physically puke.

"I almost killed you," Alice repeated weakly when no one said anything. She couldn't stand the silence.

_I really did. I was all set to do it. And I-Oh God, I think I really would have if he got his hands around her neck…But no…I could never have…I couldn't have _killed_ him…Could I? Not Jasper…_

When Jasper spoke again, it was so toneless that Alice knew everything was seconds away from being over.

"Would you have done it? Would you really have killed me to save her?" he inquired quietly, emotionlessly.

Alice saw it all flash before her eyes.

She remembered the absolute, infallible terror she had experienced when she got to her feet and saw Bella cowering on the ground with her big brown doe eyes wide and her pulse jumping so fast that it was visible beneath her skin, with his hands reaching out to tear her life away.

And she remembered the wild, irrefutable, demonic and wrathful protectiveness that had clapped through her whole being and made her move with no thought other than to _stop_ him, no matter the cost.

She remembered hooking her fingers under his jaw and pulling back with everything she had, seeing nothing but Bella lying on the ground, soaked and small and shivering in the rain, vulnerable and beautiful and terrified, and thinking _no_, not _Bella_.

_Not Bella_.

No matter what, he would _not_ hurt Bella. And Alice knew that she would have done _any_thing to save her…

_No matter the cost. _

Their eyes met across the tiny clearing, and Alice did not have to say a word.

She did not have to say the one word they could all hear in the ringing finality of her silence as the rain pattered a maddening rhythm on the treetops, obliviously droning on and on and on.

Jasper's face screwed up, twisted with rage and agony, and Alice flinched when he made a sudden movement. Edward and Emmett clamped down on his arms, but he ripped them out of their grip.

Yet all he did was shove his left hand out, yank off the golden band that had been clinging to his ring finger for fifty years, and toss it in the dirt at her feet.

He then turned and promptly disappeared into the forest without a sound.

And just like that, Jasper was gone, and Alice felt very, very cold inside as she stared down at the wedding ring glimmering on the ground. She numbly bent down and picked it up, cradling it in her palm tenderly. When she looked up again, everyone left was staring at her with a mixed bag of emotions on their face.

It was Carlisle who broke the ungodly silence smothering Alice.

"We need to go after him. In this state, he might hurt more than a few deer. Alice…Alice, there are emergency blood baggies in the fridge in my office. Go home and drink three. Esme will be waiting for you…And so will Bella."

"Carlisle-"

He didn't even look at her as he took off, and Alice shuddered at what that might mean.

"I can't believe you," Rosalie hissed as she stalked past her.

"Not cool, Alice," Emmett murmured, looking at her as if seeing her for the first time.

Together, they disappeared into the forest after the Cullen patriarch, as Alice sank a few feet deeper into what felt like hell, swallowing so hard that it stung all the way to the aching pit in her stomach.

Edward had not moved. He stared at her with an unreadable expression, and Alice knew he was inside her mind, and for once she didn't even care. All the hurt came rushing up as he stared at her and she had no idea what he could be thinking, only that she had just made her whole family hate her and lost her husband, and for what?

For _Bella_?

For a girl she had known less than a year? An eighteen year old teenaged human, who wasn't even out of high school yet?

For a pair of big brown eyes and a heart shaped face, and a laugh that made her unbeating heart soar, a girl with a soul so bright that Alice swore she was alive again whenever they were in the same room together, for a pair of soft, warm lips that when she kissed them she _felt_ so much and yearned and loved the girl so entirely that she knew nothing and no one could ever compare?

A girl that Edward had lost because of her…And surely he must hate her almost as much as Jasper at this point.

It was nowhere near as bad, but it was still awful. Next to Jasper, she had been closest to Edward next. He had always been the big brother she never had, always looking out for her in his stubbornly annoying way that she had always appreciated nonetheless. Even if she got along with Emmett better, it was Edward who she grew close to and felt the most like true siblings with.

And now he hated her.

_I'm so selfish. Rosalie was right. I'm awful and horrible, and a piece of _shit_! What have I done? How could I do this to all of us? This is all my fault. It's all my stupid fucking fault! Why did I have to fall for her? Why?_

So as he stared at her, not moving or saying anything, Alice completely broke _down_.

"I'm _sorry_," she whimpered, cupping her mouth with both hands as if that could stop the sobs bubbling out of her. "Edward, I'm _sorry_. I didn't mean to do it. I didn't mean to fall for her. I didn't want to. I don't want to love her, Edward, I'm _sorry_. I can't make it stop. I don't how to make it stop. I don't know how to make it _stop_!"

Alice sobbed into her hands and her knees buckled, unable to bare his gaze any longer, but in a whirl of dark chocolate and incense, she felt two arms wrap around her and her face pressed into Edward's chest as he embraced her closely.

Shock and disbelief filled her, but Edward just held her tighter when she whimpered confusedly.

"I know, Alice. I know. It's alright. I don't hate you. I know…"

His words should have made her feel better, but it only made everything twice as bad, and Alice could do nothing but cling to his frame and shake as she wept and wept and wept burning tears that could never spill from her eyes until they were searing and aching, and even as she clung to him, she had the fleeting thought that she wished he were Bella instead.

And then she just cried even harder.

* * *

"Oh, Bella," Esme sighed and eased her gently away, gazing down on her with concern and barely concealed fear. Bella blushed and bit the inside of her lip, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes at the motherly look.

If she was going to break down over anything, it would be over the desperate urge to bury her face in Esme's neck and hide in the comfort of her motherly arms. She had never missed her own mother more than in that moment.

"You're bleeding," Esme murmured, hands on Bella's shoulders.

Bella froze.

She was _bleeding_?

She could feel it then, the blood trickling down her cheek. She brought one hand up to her face and felt the scrape high on her right cheekbone where she had scraped it on the pavement of the driveway when she had scrambled under her truck. The rain was washing away the blood attempting to pool insistently, but more leaked out in tiny, watered down rivulets.

Bella was standing in the arms of a vampire, _bleeding_.

Well wasn't this just what she needed?

She flinched when Esme stirred, but the vampire only turned her around, wrapped an arm around her waist and began to lead her toward the house.

"Don't worry, Bella. It will take a whole lot more than a few drops to get to me, especially if it's raining. Come on, honey, you're okay now. Rosalie will have taken Alice out into the forest with the rest of them by now. It's alright. Everything's going to be fine…"

Esme's voice was gentle and coaxing. She spoke to Bella as if she were in shock. And maybe she was, because she could do nothing but numbly let Esme lead her towards the front door. She could not find a way to ground herself as Esme pulled her up the front porch, through the door and into the foyer. She realized she was shaking when Esme pulled her into the living room and sat her down on the loveseat.

The couch and coffee table were in pieces, and the black marble mantle of the fireplace was cracked. There was a thick layer of glass littering the hard wood floor beneath the broken window. It was the grand piano, however, that had gotten the worst of it. It lay in scattered pieces, thick chunks of wood lying brokenly in a heap. It must have been that which made the horrible explosive noise when Jasper and Alice had come flying in here.

Looking at it started up a sick feeling in her stomach that crawled all the way up to the back of her throat. She remembered hearing Alice cry out, but with no idea what was happening to her. She remembered the volatile, horribly violent way Jasper had attacked her, the way he had looked when he kicked Bella's truck down the driveway as if it were nothing more than a pebble in his way.

_Alice…_

When Esme pulled away from her and began to walk away, Bella instantly panicked.

"Don't!" she gasped and grabbed Esme's wrist, squeezing. "Don't go-_Please_. What if-What if they come back? What if Jas-If Alice-"

"Shh, Bella, it's okay," Esme immediately turned back to her and cupped her cheek in one hand. "It's alright, honey, it's alright. I'm just going to get something to clean your scrape. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right back sweetheart, I promise. You're safe now, I'm right here. I will be back in less than ten seconds, okay?"

It was painfully hard for Bella to nod, to swallow the lump in her throat and let go of Esme's hand. She felt stupid and pathetic when tears rolled down her face, stinging the cut on her cheek, at the fear that Esme had been about to leave her in here alone to go after her family, but Esme only gently pried her wrist out of Bella's hand, and darted off.

She was gone for only five seconds, but those five seconds alone felt like five years to Bella. When Esme appeared back in front of her, she let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. The maternal woman sat on the couch next to her with a towel, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, Neosporin, and a band-aid.

Bella sat silently and did not protest when Esme quietly began to clean her up, patting her face dry first before soaking a cotton ball in the chemical and dabbing it at the scrape on her face. Unlike alcohol, it didn't sting viciously. While she worked, Esme murmured soothingly to her.

"Everything's alright, Bella. Things like this are bound to happen when a big group of vampires lives together like this. Instincts get out of control. But no one got hurt, so everything's fine, really…"

Bella stared at her in disbelief.

She thought this was just a case of instincts getting out of control?

No, no, no, it was a whole lot more than _that_. A whole lot more that Bella still wasn't sure she could comprehend in her stunned state.

And no one got _hurt_?

She was pretty sure Alice and Jasper weren't too randy-dandy right about now. Did Esme not see the wreckage of her living room around them?

Plus, Bella had come so close to death repeatedly, if she sat and thought about it. How many times did Jasper's claws come an inch from slicing open her jugular vein?

As Bella gazed at Esme, inhaling her soothing scent that always reminded her of her own mother Renee, and apple pie and curling up in a blanket fresh out of the dryer, she realized that Esme was trying to convince herself of what she was saying as much as she was Bella.

"Esme…Alice…She-She almost…"

"Bella," Esme said softly, but her voice sounded funny, and Bella abruptly closed her mouth.

The corners of Esme's mouth were quivering, and Bella knew that Esme knew as well as she did how close Jasper had come to death today. Esme had almost lost her _son_, and she was trying to console herself, too. Obviously, she did not want to talk about it, but she was also trying to make Bella feel better at the same time.

_She saw it too. She saw the look on Alice's face, in her eyes. She saw his neck cracking. It was Esme who cried out when they stopped her. Jesus, Alice…Would you really have done it? Were you really going to kill Jasper…_

_To save me?_

Two deaths had narrowly been avoided today, and understanding that finally broke through her catatonic state.

_I almost died_, she realized, tears pumping out of her eyes immediately as Esme smeared Neosporin over the cut on her cheek and pressed the band-aid onto it a moment later.

Esme saw, of course, and Bella finally broke down and began to sob it out when the woman sighed her name softly.

"Oh, Bella, I'm sorry, sweetheart. Come here honey. Shh, it's okay…" Esme murmured as she folded Bella into the crook of her neck and began to stroke her hair gently.

Bella wasn't sure how long she stayed in that comforting spot, crying hard and trembling in Esme's arms. Again she felt a pang for her own mother, and was unbelievably grateful towards Esme even as she fell apart. She cried and cried, shivering, and after a while, her subconscious seemed to say gently, Okay, that's enough crying. Yes, we almost died, but we're alive now.

The tears slowed to a stop as did her hiccupping crying, and Esme eased her away and picked up the towel again to wrap it around Bella's shoulders. She also pulled the blanket off the back of the loveseat and draped that around her too. Bella had not noticed how much she was shivering.

"You're freezing, Bella…I'm going to get a fire going, and then I'm going to make you something hot to drink, okay? I'm sure that will make you feel better," Esme said.

When Bella gave a tiny nod, Esme smiled reassuringly, though it didn't quite reach her eyes, and leaned in to kiss her forehead in a powerful show of motherly protection that made Bella blush as another surge of affection for the vampire warmed her even before the vampire blurred over to the fireplace.

_Bless that woman_, she thought when Esme quickly got a healthy fire burning in the damaged fireplace and then disappeared into the kitchen to set about making her a drink. Bella still felt anxious when Esme wasn't around, her nerves still shot, but Esme made sure to stay in her line of sight through the kitchen bar, and so she hesitantly laid back and relaxed.

Bundled up under the towel and blanket with the fire crackling merrily in protest to her morose, drowned-rat state, the chill slowly seeped out of her frosty bones. But still she trembled, and closed her eyes as Esme bustled around in the kitchen.

_Alice kissed me again…Kissed me, and it was the best feeling I've ever felt in my life. And she did it because she loves me, too…And Jasper tried to kill me for it. How did things get so screwed up?_ She wondered. _Alice, I need you…I can't figure this out my own…Please, come back soon…_

Only when Esme walked back into the room with a steaming mug of green tea in her hand a long ten minutes later did Alice finally return.

"Thank you, Esme," Bella mumbled as Esme pressed the mug into her hands. "For everything, I mean. Letting me cry on your shoulder and all that. You didn't have to do that…"

She didn't have the heart or the rudeness in her to tell Esme that she hated tea, but she definitely appreciated the added warmth against the palms of her hands, so she took it gratefully.

"It's no problem, dear. It's the least I can do after everything you just went through," Esme smiled lightly at her. "And of course I had to let you cry on my shoulder. I practically consider you one of my own at this point, really."

Bella looked at Esme in a whole new light then, but before she could open her mouth and tell Esme just how much she appreciated that, a soft, high pitched voice said, "Bella?"

Bella perked like a dog hearing a doorbell and was on her feet before she knew she had moved. The blanket slid off of her and onto the loveseat as she quickly turned towards the staircase and saw Alice slowly coming down it.

The pixie's jet black hair was clinging to her apple cheek bones and the sides of her elegant neck. She was dripping wet, droplets of rainwater sliding off her beautiful features, and when Bella looked closely at her eyes, she saw the faintest hint of dark brass in her irises.

She looked beautiful, and Bella's breath caught in her throat as she gripped the mug tighter, and Esme made a quiet noise.

"Alice, did you hunt?" Esme demanded immediately. "If you didn't, it's not-"

"Carlisle told me to drink from the emergency supplies. I'm not hungry, Esme, I promise. I came in right through his office window and drank. I'm okay," Alice replied as she stepped off the last stair and floated into the living room.

Alice wasn't even looking at Esme as she spoke. She was looking directly at Bella, and Bella found she had no words left in her brain. She had no idea what to say, and so she clutched at the mug of tea in her hands and anguished silently.

"Your eyes are still very dark…" Esme fretted, stepping towards her adoptive daughter and peering into said pair of eyes warily.

"I'm fine, I swear. Esme, if I thought for even a second that I was a danger to Bella, I wouldn't be here. You know that. But I'm not," Alice declared. "Please…I just want to talk to her. We need to talk. You know we do…"

Esme made a tutting noise with her tongue, but at the expression on her adoptive daughter's face, she glanced back and forth between her and Bella.

"Bella…Are you comfortable with this?" Esme inquired gently. Alice made a face, but Bella nodded hurriedly.

"Yeah, of course…I mean, if Alice says she's okay, I believe her…" she mumbled uncomfortably.

Esme hesitated for another long moment but reluctantly took a step back.

"Alright then…If you're okay with it, Bella…But I will be right outside the room, do you hear me? I won't be listening for anything other than a problem, though. It's just a precaution. And Alice?"

Alice turned to her mother, reluctantly breaking the intense stare off she had been having with Bella.

"Yes?"

"She's not the only one you need to talk to," Esme said quietly, clearly referring to herself, and a pained look shot across Alice's face before it disappeared.

"I know, Mother," she murmured.

Esme gave Bella one last glance, brushed a comforting hand against Alice's cheek to which the pixie leaned into, and then left the room.

As soon as she was gone, their eyes locked up again. For a brief moment, they gazed at each other, a million thoughts and words and conversations flashing between them, and just like that, they were across the room and in each other's arms.

Alice, Bella thought as she unceremoniously dropped the mug of tea in favor of flinging her arms around the pixie's neck when Alice flew into her. It didn't break, but tea did splash across the floor.

She figured if Esme didn't mind the other broken things in her house, she wouldn't mind a little tea on the floor.

Bella felt two strong, pale arms wrap around her waist and squeeze tightly as she staggered from the force of the hug, inhaling the scent of white chocolate and berries and _love_.

It was love, she knew now, that she breathed in deeply as they held each other, Alice whispering her name breathlessly into the crook of her neck.

_How could I not have known?_ Bella thought. _How could I have never known what this feeling was? Oh, Alice..._

"Bella," Alice groaned, and gently pushed her back a little.

Like before when she had thought Alice was going to run from her after kissing her again, Bella tensed in panic, but Alice only guided her back down and into the loveseat. Bella's heart was racing as Alice crouched down in front of her, and cupped her face in two cool hands that sent tingles racing through her.

Now when Alice held her face in her hands, it felt entirely different.

_Better._

"I'm so sorry," Alice whispered, brushing her thumbs over Bella's cheeks.

Bella was crying again, without meaning too. She wasn't even sure why at this point.

_Look at her. She's so gorgeous. She's so gorgeous, and she's broken. Look at her face. Her fucking perfect face. Her eyes are _hurting_. Did I do that to her? What happened after Rosalie took her away? Did she talk to Jasper? What did they say? Oh Christ, what if she takes back what she said? What if she realizes she really does love Jasper and not me?_

She wouldn't be able to survive that, so to stave off her panic, she did not talk about it.

"Don't," Bella said back firmly. "No apologies. Not right now. We…I don't care. We've both fucked up, Alice, so just don't, okay? It's no use now. Just tell me you're okay, _please_. Tell me you're not hurt."

Alice bit her bottom lip, and shook her head.

"I'm fine," she breathed. "Well…No, I'm not. I'm really not…Things are so messed up, Bells…And I don't know how to fix it this time…How are you not mad at me? You should have slapped me, not _hugged_ me. I should be down on my knees begging for forgiveness from you right now…"

Bella felt little butterflies flutter in her belly as she reached out and cupped Alice's face, too, hating the way her eyes seemed to be drowning in tears that she couldn't shed.

"Well, in the light of the situation," she furrowed her brow. "I mean yeah, I was really angry at first, but that all kinda went away when we…When we kissed…"

She watched Alice's face closely at that, but the pixie gave nothing away. Bella supposed she should still be mad at Alice for giving her whiplash after kissing her when she had told her there could be nothing between them, and then kissing her again and telling her those _things_, but it seemed kind of trivial to stay mad at her after all that had happened. Besides, all her anger at Alice had been replaced by the terror she had felt for her, and how she knew Alice wasn't doing it on purpose. That was not the kind of person Alice was. The girl's head must be all over the place trying to deal with all of what she was feeling.

And it's not like she could put all the blame on Alice for it happening in the first place either. She _had_ kind of pulled an Adele on them.

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited, indeed.

"Besides, it's not like you're the only one at fault, here. And I am still really confused about what's going through your head but, Alice…How can I stay mad at you after that? I thought Jasper…I thought he…I was so _scared_, Alice. I thought he _really_ hurt you," Bella admitted, her throat closing as she remembered the fear she had experienced for Alice.

All the cracks in her perfect marble skin seemed to have healed, but Bella could imagine them well enough, and it put a nasty feeling inside her to remember how hard Alice had hit the ground to cause them.

"You were afraid for _me_?" Alice said thickly in disbelief. "Bella…Oh Bella…_How_? I almost got you killed, Bella and you were worried about _me_? I shouldn't have kissed you. It was a mistake, and I-"

"Don't. Don't you _dare_," Bella hissed immediately, withdrawing her hands and clasping them on Alice's wrists instead, squeezing tightly. "You can't do that to me. Not again. You _kissed_ me, Alice, don't you _dare_ say it was a mistake…Or that you didn't mean it. I swear-I swear I…"

She couldn't even finish. If Alice did this to her right now, after everything, she was going to-to…She didn't even know what.

But it wouldn't be pretty.

Alice, however, looked alarmed at her tone.

"No, Bella, that's not what I meant!" she rushed to correct herself. "I meant it was a mistake because it almost got you really hurt. And I…I did mean it. I meant to do it…I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry, but I meant to do it…And I meant what I said, too…"

Bella's breath hitched at that, and she trembled when Alice shifted and traced a finger gently over the band aid on her cheek, eyeing her with so much sadness and emotion in those expressive eyes of hers that pulled at Bella's heartstrings.

_Is she talking about…?_

"You…You meant it," Bella repeated, her heart rate picking up when Alice's eyes landed back on hers instead of the scrape on her cheek. "You meant what, exactly?"

She knew what. But she desperately needed to hear Alice say it now.

Alice gave her a look that clearly said _You know what_, but when she said it aloud, Bella's stomach did this crazy flip flop and her aching heart seemed to spread wings and jump in her chest.

"That I love you, Bella…Don't tell me you don't remember that?"

As if she could ever forget.

Bella closed her eyes and rejoiced despite herself, opening them a moment later to see Alice still there.

It wasn't an illusion, or a dream, and Alice wasn't taking it back, but reiterating it.

_She loves me back…_

The feeling of that was unreal in how good it felt, but it was tempered by everything that had happened.

"Of course I do, Alice…But…But what about Jasper?" she couldn't help but say.

A flash of pain appeared in Alice's eyes, and Alice murmured softly but deliberately, "Bella…I don't want to talk about him right now. All…All I can tell you is that it's over between me and Jasper. And that's all I can stand to say, okay? So please, don't push that, okay? Please…"

Bella didn't know two feelings could conflict so violently, and she kicked herself furiously for the muted delight that shot through her at this as opposed to the horrible guilt that followed it.

_You bitch, don't do that_, she thought angrily at herself. _Don't you get excited that it's over between them. _You_ did that to them. You ruined them. You're the reason she's here now, hurting like this. And what about Jasper, huh? You just ripped away the love of his life. His wife. You're a filthy home wrecker, so don't even get happy about the fact that they're over. It doesn't even mean anything anyway. You're not going to up and ride off happily into the sunset with Alice or some shit, nor should you, so stop it…_

Oh Alice…If Bella was feeling guilty over Jasper in all this mess, surely Alice had it a hundred times as bad. She had just _lost_ Jasper.

Poor Alice had been ripped nearly in two over the both of them…She was only trying to do the best that she could as her heart was torn between them, and now she had lost her _husband_…

_What have I done to them? _Bella wondered shamefully.

"I'm sorry, Alice…I didn't mean to…I'm sorry," Bella said helplessly, and Alice only shook her head again.

"Don't worry about it, Bella…You said no apologies, remember?" Alice reminded her, and pushed a lock of wet hair behind Bella's ear.

"Sorry," Bella muttered, and the corners of Alice's lips quirked just slightly as she winced and rolled her eyes at herself. The moment didn't last.

"Bella…" Alice began, her tone taking on some suddenly fervent quality that made Bella really sit up and pay attention. (Not like she wasn't already, but yeah.) "Bella, please tell me you meant it when you said it. Please tell me you really do love me, too, because if you don't, I need to know now. Please tell me this isn't just some infatuation. I can't-I need to know. Please tell me this wasn't all a huge mistake, Bells, because I'm losing _everything_ and it's my own fault, but I-I-"

Alice seemed to choke up, and Bella was speaking without any chance of second guessing herself. There was no chance of her second guessing what she knew.

"Alice, I _love_ you. If I don't know anything else after all this, I know _that_. I love you, Alice. I do, I know it from the bottom of my heart. It's not just a crush. When I saw-When I saw you and him-It ripped at me, Alice. There is no word _besides_ love for how much I feel for you. There is nothing else it could be. If it were just some crush-I wouldn't _care_ so much. All of this wouldn't hurt so much. But I do, Alice. I _love_ you," Bella told her sincerely, blushing as she spoke, but her words did seem to soothe Alice, who took a heavy breath and nodded weakly, but did not verbally respond.

They were quiet after that, just staring into each other's eyes and trying to process everything that had happened. The longer they sat together like this, so close, Bella felt all the emotion coming back up. The anxiety, the want, the ache, the fear, the love…

She took a shaky breath, falling into Alice's eyes when the vampire shifted, noticing.

Alice's left thumb brushed under her eye, swirling slowly as her palm slid down and against Bella's jaw. Bella trembled beneath it, and reprimanded herself when her eyes unconsciously dropped to Alice's lips.

It was the wrong, most inappropriate time, but she could not help the sudden desire to kiss Alice.

To kiss away the hurt. Kiss away the pain. Kiss her because she loved her, and she didn't know what the hell they were supposed to do about it now.

Yet Alice seemed to share the sentiment, because her thumb dipped down and brushed the corner of her mouth, so that Bella's lips parted, and their eyes got all tangled up again in a mutual look of understanding.

"Oh Bella," Alice whispered, and they both dipped forward and pressed their lips together softly.

It was so tender that it made her whimper as Alice's fingers slipped into her hair and she laid one hand on the pixie's shoulder to ground herself, though it had the opposite effect because she brushed cool skin and electricity coursed through her as that soaring feeling filled her up again, no less powerful than before.

_Like rain and spearmint and white chocolate and berries_, she thought. And their lips fit together so effortlessly, and Alice's were so soft and cool against her own.

And maybe it was wrong to be kissing her now, but it still felt so _right_.

_Damn_, she always swore she would never give in to that particular cliché for any reason.

But alas…

Bella knew that she could kiss Alice forever, but all too soon, Alice parted the relatively chaste kiss and pressed their foreheads together with the most forlorn, broken noise the brunette could imagine, and she chewed the inside of her cheek at the sound of it.

"Alice…" she murmured, peering right into the vampire's eyes from their positioning, so close, yet so far from her, not knowing how her body could contain all the emotion Alice had put her in fragile heart. "What do we do now, Alice? Where do we go from here?"

Alice only gazed at her for a moment.

"I don't know, Bella…I just don't know…"

It was certainly less than reassuring, but Alice continued by dotting a tiny kiss to the corner of her mouth that made Bella fall for her all the more as she fought not to swoon.

God damn it, she had it _bad_.

"But we're gonna figure it out, okay? We'll figure it all out. We'll find a way, Bells. Together…" she murmured.

"Together," Bella echoed, liking the sound of the word even if she wasn't entirely sure of the implications.

She had no idea what was going to happen now. Jasper had been royally fucked over and the shame of that was just now starting to really kick in, and even if they both seemed to be fully in love with each other, that didn't mean Alice was going to up and drop her marriage. She found it hard to believe Jasper would end fifty years of marriage just like that. And Alice wasn't going to just jump into her arms instantly. That's not even what _should_ happen. (But she didn't know _what_ should happen.)

That wasn't how life worked. Not to freaking mention all that crap with Victoria and the Volturi, but all of that seemed so unimportant right then.

All that mattered was the girl before her, and as long as Alice wasn't running away from her, but sticking by her side to figure it all out together with her, then maybe the future wouldn't seem so bleak.

"Yep," Alice sighed, still holding her face like some precious gem in her palms. "Together. You and me. We'll figure it out, Bells. We always do. You, me…Oh, and Spongebob, of course."

Bella blinked, bewildered.

"Wha-?"

A sudden suspicion shot through her as Alice's eyes gave a familiar twinkle, and she lifted a hand to her face to trace over the band-aid Esme had left her with.

"Are you fucking serious?" she deadpanned, and Alice giggled her lovely giggle, wrinkling up her nose cutely at the brunette, and before Bella knew what was happening, a smile was slowly splitting her face.

Alice's amusement, as always, was contagious.

"Like really Esme? _Spongebob_? Do I look five years old to her and Carlisle? What, are my injuries never serious enough for a solemn skin colored band-aid? Are my wounds so frivolous that only Spongebob can suffice?"

Her impassioned complaining made Alice's giggling rise to full blown laughter, and suddenly they were _both_ laughing, watery, painful laughs that broke the tension even as they felt inappropriate.

It wasn't even that funny, but still they laughed.

And somehow in the middle of all that relieving laughter, Alice was kissing her again, and she was kissing back, and when they realized what was happening, they broke apart, the giggling trailing away as they tasted each other on their lips, startled and enamored with how easily they had simply kissed, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Just like that, the seriousness returned, but it did not feel so suffocating as before, or hopeless.

"Together, right?" Bella murmured. "We'll get through this _together_, right Alice?"

She couldn't help the emphasis she put on it. She still had her lingering doubts that Alice might back out, might run from her again, might change her mind and decide she didn't really love her at all…

"Together," Alice breathed. "I'm here, Bella. I'm not going to leave you alone in this. I wouldn't do that to you. I _couldn't_. But we're still just us, Bella, no matter what happens next. I'm still Alice, and you're still Bella, no matter what. _Always_."

Bella's heart soared, and even through the seriousness of the moment and the gravity of the situation, she couldn't help but smile as she said it back to her.

"Always."

* * *

_**I think everybody has been pretty hard on Alice. Sure, she's made mistakes, but it's not exactly an easy thing to handle guys, lol. We know she's not a deliberately selfish person. She was just confused. She's doing the best she can, is all I'm saying. **_

_**Anywho, I'm sure you guys are sick to death of Jasper by now, and now he's out of the way ;) The next few chapters are going to focus on some much wanted, much needed Bellice. Goood, finally, I get to fucking write it. Jesus, why did I write the story this way? We're fifteen chapters in and it's about time, so I'm very eager to get into it. And much love for the love, too, ya'll. **_


	16. Chapter 16

_**This one is going to feel spectacularly short after all those 10k chapters, haha. Sorry ya'll. I actually replied to a lot of people this time, though. Occasionally I do splurge and reply to reviews. It's never that I don't want to. There have been plenty of times when I want to and don't, mostly because of how much time it takes when I'm already typing so many words and junk. I didn't catch a lot of the ones that came after like the first day though, so sorry to anyone I missed. And because I can't respond to anonymous reviews, I will now, and say thank you to all of you too :) **_

_**Anyway, onward to the good stuff. **_

* * *

For the next three weeks that went by, things got spectacularly weird.

Bella, of course, had no idea what she expected to happen next, but it was not what she got. First of all, Victoria seemed to have given up on her. When Bella went back to school the following Monday, she was gone, and when Alice checked her visions, she saw the redhead boarding a plane to Volterra, Italy, the Volturi capitol city. Bella was stunned, and when she asked why, all she got was a grim look from Alice and a short, "I don't know."

She grew excited and asked Alice, "Isn't that a good thing? Now she won't be after me anymore!"

Alice's reply was very foreboding, "No, Bella. I'd say it's actually a bad thing. And Victoria is most certainly still out for you. She's not the type of girl that just gives up."

Alice's logic for that was that she preferred Victoria where she could keep an eye on her, and that the Volturi must have called her back for a reason; a reason she did not know, and that not knowing what the Volturi were thinking was never a good thing, according to the pixie.

That dashed most of Bella's good feeling about it, as did the news that Victoria was not the only one who had left. The same Monday, Alice informed her that Jasper had also disappeared, and no one was really sure where he was going. When she checked her visions, Alice could not tell where he was headed because Jasper himself could not decide.

Alice told her this news with a straight face, and Bella knew better than to ask any further about the matter. She did not want to press Alice after everything, knowing the girl must be sensitive after the emotional hell she had been through when she had been forced to pick between them and break the heart of her husband when she did not choose him. She figured Alice would talk about it when she was ready…

Except this stance on the matter left them in a totally _weird_ place.

They were in love with each other…But they were still carrying on as if they were just friends. And not talking about it with Alice to give her the time she needed simply translated to both of them practically acting like nothing had ever happened, which was _not_ what Bella wanted to do.

The relationship between her and Alice experienced an exponential shift, but what that shift was and where it left them, she was not exactly sure. Everything had changed between them…And nothing at the same time. It was absolutely maddening and frustrating, but Bella did not know how to bring it up and figured that it needed to be Alice who decided when it would be a good time to talk about it all.

There was, however, at least one very noticeable change in their interactions with each other.

Namely the fact that they now kissed.

A lot.

Like, _a lot_.

From the day of her near death experience and the profession of both her and Alice's love for each other, the weirdness kicked in, starting most noticeably with the kissing.

It was never public. It always happened in a natural sort of way, whenever they were alone or hanging out together. Bella was afraid that after everything she would have to contend with Alice shying away again, with the pixie distancing herself while she collected herself. But it happened in the entirely opposite way.

Almost every day for three weeks, they hung out together, usually at Bella's house because of what Alice had dubbed 'family issues' that was only one thing on a growing of list things they both seemed to have silently agreed not to talk about.

And they kissed.

They could be goofing around, watching TV, doing homework, lounging around bored, it didn't matter. Bella could be in the middle of debating some random topic with Alice, like over the semantics of using a brush as opposed to a comb, and out of nowhere, when they were in the middle of making joking jabs at each other over their preferences, their lips would get locked up. Bella was never even entirely sure how it happened. One second she was brandishing a brush in one hand and waving a comb at Alice in the other, and Alice was laughing, and the next the vampire leaned in and captured her mouth with her own lovely one, and they _kissed_.

Alice was never even the one to always start it, much to Bella's surprise and chagrin. Once she had been lying on her bed with her head in Alice's lap, staring at the ceiling and listening to Alice ramble on and on about her passion for fashion when she looked up and saw how gorgeous the underside of Alice's jaw was and how pretty the girl was when her eyes were lit up as she talked about something she loved.

She had leaned up, turned around to face Alice, and kissed her, without thinking about it, like she was allowed to, like it was something they had always done. And Alice kissed her back smoothly, sweetly, her rant about the latest winter wear dying as she did.

They always reciprocated. Every single time. With lips and tongue and sometimes even teeth –but no fangs- when things got heated.

And things _definitely_ got heated sometimes.

How could it not? She was _making out_ with _Alice_. She could probably kiss Alice forever and never get tired of it. The girl's tongue was stupidly skillful, and the taste of her combined with the feel of her lit both emotional and physical fires inside Bella that she was helpless to stop.

It was both frightening and exhilarating how quickly they could really get into whatever it was that they were doing with each other.

Bella remembered with a blush the time one weekend before that she had been plopped down on the couch, with Alice snuggled into her side and Charlie out running a late night shift, watching some random movie on Netflix. Not only had they been kissing, but they always seemed to be draped over each other in some way as well. That in and of itself wasn't much different from before, but it was the way they did it that had changed.

They sat impossibly close. Alice's head was lying on her shoulder, and Bella could smell her amazing aroma and her shampoo, that smelled faintly of fresh grapes. Bella had one arm around her waist and could not ignore the fact that her hand was on Alice's curved hip. Her feet were on the floor, but Alice's were curled on the couch beside her.

Bella was actually almost used to the unusually intimate positions by now, and as such was not _completely_ distracted by Alice as she watched the movie. Just mostly.

That is to say, until she felt Alice's lips on her neck.

It was in the middle of some explosive action scene when Bella felt cool lips gently press to the crook where her shoulder sloped into her neck. She blinked a little and her breath hitched, but she did not dare look at Alice and chance ruining the sensation if the girl pulled away. Her eyes stayed glued on the flashing TV screen as Alice slowly trailed kisses up her neck, and Bella shivered when the vampire pressed one hand against her stomach, clearly uninterested in whatever they were watching.

"Alice?" Bella breathed.

"Shh," Alice murmured against the corner of her mouth, and then kissed her with no further preamble.

When Bella felt Alice's tongue in her mouth that night, a _hunger_ awoke inside her. Heat and desire pooled low in her belly as she kissed her back, their tongues dancing eagerly as Bella lost herself to the taste of Alice's mouth. They turned into each other, and she moaned helplessly when Alice boldly crawled into her lap and straddled her.

She had no idea what had gotten into the vampire that night, but she certainly wasn't complaining.

It was a different kind of hunger than Victoria produced inside her, or even Rosalie. It was an unstoppable head rush that made her whole body wake up eagerly, made her squirm and whimper helplessly against Alice's mouth again and again, not just_ wanting_ Alice, but _needing_ her with everything she had.

Bella's hormones went through the roof when she felt Alice's ass on her lap and she put her trembling hands on those tiny hips as their kiss deepened with soft whimpers and moans. Every noise Alice released was pitched perfectly and only stirred the human on further.

Maybe the love she had for Alice only amplified the already fucking sexy girl, but either way, it was incredible how easily Alice turned her on. And how fast.

Somehow Bella ended up with her head on the arm of the couch and Alice lying on top of her, and somehow Alice's hand was up her shirt, under her bra, and cupping her breast, and Bella couldn't even _breathe_ from how good it felt to be in Alice's hands. They were grinding, trembling, moaning, kissing, and Bella was wet and hot between her legs with Alice's mouth sucking hotly at her neck, vaguely wondering how far and fast this was about to go.

_All the way_, her libido groaned as Alice plucked Bella's hand off her lower back and placed it on her ass. Bella died at the way it felt in her hand, and when she couldn't resist giving Alice a good squeeze, she almost _came_ right then and there under the stress of Alice's pheromones and the growl that vibrated into her mouth in response.

She had no idea what the fuck they were doing or where it would leave them, only how good it felt and how much she loved Alice more and more with every hungry kiss and moan.

_That_ little session had been broken up by the sound of Charlie's keys in the lock, her own gasp, and Alice's muffled swear that was way more erotic than it should be as the vampire rolled off of her. When Charlie walked into the living room, they were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, and Alice smiled serenely, looking unruffled as she greeted him. The only thing that might have given her away was the dark shade of her eyes.

Who knew she was such an actress? Only Bella could sense the desire swirling in her irises, having learned the delicious expression well by now.

Bella, however, could not look Charlie in the eyes, because her hair was a mess and her shirt was crooked, and she was pretty sure that her hand was clapped over a brand new hickey, not to mention the hot throb pulsing between her thighs.

Thanks, Alice.

That was how it always ended. They would break apart for some reason or another, with swollen lips and dark eyes. That was the farthest they had been, Alice's hand on her breast, kneading away. As good as that felt, as _amazing_ as it was, and how much Bella truly loved Alice…

She was determined that it go no farther until they _talked about_ what the hell they were doing. Actual sex was a much bigger thing than a measly second base. (Measly, right. Bella still masturbated to the thought of it. Stupid hormones.)

They were kissing and making out and groping each other. Were they still just friends? Surely not. But then what exactly was this? Were they girlfriends? No, it felt weird to say that, even though Bella really kind of wished they were…What did Alice really want out of this, anyway? What did _Bella_? How did Alice feel about all of it? She did not seem to shy from Bella when things got hot and heavy, but she also never really pushed it all the way, either.

They were in love with each other, but they never talked about that. They kissed, but had no idea what their relationship really was.

And though the hormonal part of Bella wanted to go all the way despite all of that, the logical part of her knew that _that_ was definitely not a good idea. She shouldn't even be considering sex with Alice already, Jesus. Still, it was kind of hard _not_ to think about that stuff when the vampire's tongue was practically in her throat.

But reality and practicality could easily dissuade any fantasies. That was a huge step, and they had not even addressed the most important step of even talking about everything that had happened.

The heart of her was beginning to ache with confusion and a want for something more than kisses with uncertain meanings, but every time she tried to breach the subject, it never felt right, and she would chicken out.

So everything stayed completely and utterly weird between them. Different, but the same.

The weirdness was not relegated solely to her and Alice, though. Back at school, things were weird, too, but in an entirely different way, notably concerning Leah Clearwater.

And it was that weirdness with Leah that happened to be the deciding factor that inevitably broke the weirdness between Bella and Alice.

"Sup, Bella?" the La Push girl greeted as she dropped down beside her in the gymnasium bleachers. Over the past three weeks, Bella had gotten closer to Leah, much to Alice's growing irritation. Bella watched as Alice glanced over at them immediately from her position out on the floor, in the competitive game of volleyball going on. Bella's team had already lost and that's why she was sprawled out in the bleachers, watching Angela's and Alice's teams go at it.

A guilty part of Bella was unquestionably turned on by the hard look Alice always got every time Leah came around her. She hated to admit it, but Alice was undeniably sexy when she was angry, and she was angry every time Leah got near her. For the life of her, Bella did not know why. For three weeks it had been almost nonstop glaring between the both of them, and despite Alice's hostility towards the La Push native, Leah still made an effort to befriend her, and being the person that she was, Bella happily let it happen.

Seriously. Leah was chill, and funny, and she was one of the few girls in the school who was not only gay herself, but took no crap from Cassie and her crew. More than once Bella had watched Leah come to her defense when anyone tried to give her crap, and that was part of what made it so easy to like her.

So why the hell did Alice dislike her so much? That should have instantly put Leah in her good books, if she was looking out for Bella.

Okay, well…Bella had come to learn that Alice was actually a pretty possessive person, and so the jealousy was what kept Alice from liking Leah. Sometimes Bella still got the feeling Leah might be into her, but with how mysterious the girl was, she was never sure. But that did not explain why Alice had hated her from the get go, and whenever Bella asked her about it, she got nothing but a scowl in response and a vague, "She's just bad news, Bella! Why can't you understand that?"

_Because you won't tell me why she's bad news_, Bella thought with a flash of annoyance as Alice spiked the ball particularly hard and it hit the floor with a slam as Leah sat down next to her.

The fact of the matter was, Bella liked Leah. She was a good friend, something she was definitely appreciated in the hostile environment her homophobic school had become.

If Alice hated Leah so much, if she hated the fact that Leah seemed to think that Bella was available and hated that because of that the girl sometimes hit on her, she should do something about it.

Not kiss Bella all the time, but never talk about what happened. Not grope her and then act like everything was still the same between them. Not pretend like they weren't in love with each other.

If she was so freaking jealous, why didn't she _do_ something about it?

"Hey," Bella greeted her. "You tired of the boys or something?" she inquired, gesturing across the gym at a group of tall, tanned, and stupidly muscular guys that looked a whole lot like the girl sitting beside her.

Leah had not been the only La Push transfer. She was one of four of the Quileute natives that had switched to Forks High. Embry, Quil, and Jake, her cousins, had also entered the school, and just like Alice hated Leah, she also seemed to hate the rest of the guys joking around making obnoxious amounts of noise as usual. But even the rest of the Cullens seemed to have little patience for the group. The Quileutes seemed to return the sentiments, too. Emmett had bumped into Embry and Quil both while walking down the hall one day, and Bella had watched in astonishment as both boys shoved him back, so hard he hit the lockers.

Emmett had not physically responded, but the menacing look on his face had made everyone watching back off a few steps. Embry and Quil had glared at him, but Jake, the one guy out of all of them that Bella could actually stand, had grabbed them by the shoulders and steered them away.

Bella was starting to wonder if maybe the Cullens were racist…No, that couldn't be it.

Since when had they ever indicated they were prejudiced people? But then why else did they hate the La Push kids so much? And why did the La Push kids seem to hate them back? Even Leah did not come around her when Alice was at her side, where Alice always made a point to be.

Bella had no idea. They all acted like two rival gangs, seconds away from having a shootout.

"I'm _always_ tired of them," Leah snorted, resting her foot on one knee and leaning back, stretching the toned, tanned muscles of her arms. Her shirt rode up, and Bella glanced at the tiny strip of skin it revealed.

It was ironic, honestly, the way she looked at other girls now. Ever since realizing she loved Alice, she also realized that no matter how beautiful Leah was, she was nothing compared to the attraction Bella felt for the pixie. Looking back on it, Bella knew she never had been, not really. Even Victoria and Rosalie had not called to her the way Alice did, when she smiled or laughed, or just walked on by, simply existing, but pulling Bella's eyes with her wherever she went.

Bella could acknowledge that other girls were beautiful, even hot, but any attraction she felt towards them was just that. An acknowledgment, nothing more. It wasn't a profound want or desire. She could look, but she didn't really want to touch. She had eyes only for one girl, and that girl was Alice.

Too fucking bad she had no idea what was going on with her and the girl, though. Maybe then this epiphany of hers would actually mean something other than heartache and a decidedly unsatisfied libido.

"I can see why," Bella laughed as Embry and Quil jumped on Jake, unsuccessfully trying to give the bigger boy a noogie. Jake easily grabbed them both in a headlock, his huge biceps bulging. He really was a big guy, probably the biggest in the school next to Emmett.

Bella liked Jake okay. Sometimes when she was eating lunch and Leah decided to sit with them instead of her cousins, Jake would stop by. He was a sweet guy, funny, but obviously crushing on her. That put her off, but out of the three of them, he was the only one who seemed to have any level of maturity, and he wasn't a dick about his attraction to her.

Embry and Quil were both jackasses. Rude, and disrespectful. It was no wonder Leah got tired of them.

"Yeah. I deal with that shit twenty four seven. It gets really annoying, honestly. Whatever, though. Let's not talk about boys. It's not like either of us are into them, anyway," Leah shrugged.

"Right," Bella chuckled, glancing at her out of the corner of her eye.

"Sooo…" Leah drawled, and Bella had the sudden feeling that this conversation was going to head into decidedly lesbian territory.

"What's up with you and Pixie Sticks, Swan?" Leah asked slowly.

Close enough to lesbian territory, at least in her opinion. What a loaded question that was. Best to stick with the safest answers she could come up with. A this point, people nosed in on her business with her best friend so much that it wasn't even hard to do so.

"Um…Nothing, really. Me and Alice are just…Me and Alice," Bella replied, crossing her arms when said vampire looked up at them as she tossed the ball in the air to serve it.

Bella realized like a slap to the face that Leah's arm was actually draped along the bleachers behind her head in a way that could easily be mistaken for something more than it was.

It wasn't actually a big deal. Leah always stretched her long limbs out whenever she sat, and after her stretch, she had just dropped it in the most comfortable place, which happened to be in a place that could easily be transformed into it being wrapped around Bella's shoulders if she moved it just an inch forward.

When Alice served the ball, she hit it so hard that it shot straight into the net with so much force that it rebounded into the nearest girl's stomach, making her yelp and nearly drop to her knees. The coach blew her whistle as Bella winced and Alice frantically rushed over to apologize.

Leah laughed.

"Right. Sure you are. That's why she's imagining mutilating me in some twisted fashion every time I get around you," Leah said as Bella squirmed uncomfortably.

"Alice is just…Protective," she said evasively.

"Or jealous," Leah scoffed. "Seriously, you guys are so obvious. And you _wonder_ why everyone's so convinced you two are scissoring it out behind closed doors."

Bella's cheeks flamed, and she spluttered, sitting up straight in protest.

It did not help that Leah's words forcefully put the image of her and Alice…Doing _that_ into her head, and damn it, now she would need to take an ice cold shower after gym just to get rid of it.

Or a take few minutes alone with her right hand…

_Damn! _

"Dude-We're not-I mean we haven't-Seriously-" she stammered wildly, waving her hands in a crazy fashion as Leah hitched an eyebrow at her, almond shaped eyes narrowing.

"What, you guys aren't? You're telling me you haven't tapped that yet Swan?" Leah said with mock disbelief, sitting up too as Bella floundered.

"What? _No_!" Bella yelped indignantly, then shrank when a few people sitting around looked at them.

Not that she hadn't _wanted_ to, but that was beside the point!

The point being that she wanted a whole lot more than to 'tap' Alice, and that they weren't even ready for that anyway, second base be damned. They weren't even ready for a lot of things, apparently.

Like _talking_ about anything.

Leah, however, only laughed at the outraged blush on her cheeks.

"Dude, Izzy, chill. I'm just fucking with you," Leah snickered.

Bella glared at her for a moment, and then shoved the native girl's shoulder as Leah mimicked her expression of outrage, which only made the Quileute girl laugh harder. Bella couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile, knowing she had overreacted.

"Jeez, I didn't think you were such a prude Swan," Leah said after a minute, noticing the faint blush on Bella's cheeks.

"What? I'm not! You're just a pervert," Bella huffed, offended.

Bella was not a prude. If Leah could hear her thoughts half the time when Alice was around, and even when she wasn't, she would know that. Edward could probably vouch for her.

Poor Edward. Sometimes she forgot he could read minds.

Until she saw the grimace on his face when she was pulled out of a particularly graphic day dream involving Alice and an entirely different ending to that night with her on the couch.

Yeah. That was pretty embarrassing, to say the least. She was much more careful with her thoughts whenever he was around now.

"You're blushing," Leah pointed out as if that proved her point, and Bella only blushed more because of it.

_Ugh. Stupid blood, get the fuck out of my face_, she thought in annoyance.

She was not a prude, damn it. She liked kissing and groping and touching, and would happily do so, had been happily doing so with Alice for the past few weeks. Even with Edward she had been the aggressor, always trying for more.

Seriously. If anyone was a prude, it was Edward. That boy was abstinent to the bone.

Her inner lesbian was now thankful for that, though.

But just because she liked getting to second base with Alice did _not_ mean she was a prude if she wanted to keep that to herself.

"So? I'm _not_ a prude," she snapped when Leah smirked. "I just like private things to be _kept_ private. You, on the other hand, are lewd, obscene, and shameless."

"Sure. According to you, there is nothing for you to keep private anyway," Leah said, reclining back into the bleachers again.

If by nothing she meant how often she was playing tonsil hockey with Alice, no.

But she was lying about that, which was what started this in the first place, so…

When Bella decided to plead the fifth on that one and remain silent, Leah glanced at her.

"So…There really is nothing going on between you and Cullen?" she said slowly.

Bella looked at her, curiosity stirred by the fishing tone Leah's voice had taken on.

"Nope," Bella stated.

"Nothing at all…?"

"No," she repeated, feeling guilty about lying for some reason, as if somehow she was betraying Alice.

Hell, it's not like they were _dating_ or anything.

But still...

"Why are you asking anyway?" Bella inquired when Leah fell silent, watching the volleyball game before them.

Bella watched for a moment too, mostly because Alice was wearing short shorts and bouncing all over the place, never letting the ball hit the ground.

_Maybe I'm not a prude. Maybe I'm just a pervert_, she reprimanded herself, feeling exactly like one as her gaze lingered on Alice's butt for a little too long.

Her hormones were out of control lately. Making out with a vampire all the time was bound to do that to you, though. It felt somehow disrespectful to look at Alice's body like that without her permission, even though Alice had once told her that there was no shame in appreciating someone else's body, as long as you weren't rude about it.

"Because…" Leah sighed, and turned to look at her face to face. "If there isn't anything between you two, then I don't have to feel badly about doing this."

Leah reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked to be two movie tickets, and Bella was stunned as the Quileute girl handed one to her.

_Did she just…?_

Bella took it wordlessly, surprise sewing her mouth shut.

"Leah," she mumbled, gazing down at it.

"Look, the offer stands the same as it did before. We can go together as friends, or…We can go _together_."

Together.

Bella looked up sharply at that particular word, hearing Alice whisper it again in the back of her mind.

_Together…_

Leah had just effectively asked her out on a date. She wanted to go to the movies with Bella, _together_.

"It's whatever you want, Izzy. We don't even have to go at all if you don't want to. But I figured I might as well try one more time," Leah continued, sounding as if she didn't care either way.

Bella looked at her again, the ticket held in both hands. She could see the contours of Leah's pretty eyes, the shade of her tanned skin, the flex of her neck muscles when she shifted in her black tank top.

And all she could think of was Alice, and how the only together she wanted was the together with _her_.

Not Leah, or anyone else.

Yet despite that yearning for Alice, none of it was coming to fruition between them. They had not talked about it at all, and the only indication that anything had ever happened at all was the faintly lingering taste of white chocolate, spearmint, and berries on her lips that seemed to follow her everywhere nowadays, and the persistent absence of Jasper Hale.

_Together_, Alice had said. _We'll figure it out together._

But they had not figured anything out other than the fact that Alice had a super sensitive back and Bella had super sensitive ears, and that when they kissed a certain way, they would moan at exactly the same time.

"Leah, I…" Bella swallowed uncertainly, not knowing what to say.

_I should say no. What would be the point? You want Alice. Not Leah…_

But she wasn't getting Alice. Not the way she wanted her. Completely, fully, heart, mind, and soul, not just her lips.

Leah shifted, apparently growing visibly uncomfortable for the first time.

"Hey, don't make this weird, alright? It's okay if you don't want to. I'll understand, Bella," Leah muttered, waving the other ticket around flippantly.

_Just say no. Let her down now, when it's easy…_

Still Bella hesitated, rubbing her fingers over the texture of the ticket to the movie Iron Man 3.

_But why should I say no? Because of Alice? Because I love her, and she loves me…And we've been kissing. And…_

But they weren't dating. What even _were_ they? What did all that kissing even _mean_?

And what if they never did, never figured it out? What if Alice didn't really love her anymore? She wasn't talking about it, and Bella did not know if she ever would want to again.

So she panicked.

"Yes!" Bella blurted.

_Shit! _

"Yes?" Leah's eyes widened the slightest bit. She seemed pleasantly surprised, and Bella fought not to visibly wince.

_Shit, why did I say that?_

"Uh…No?" Bella said, squirming.

"No?" Leah cocked her head, now looking perplexed.

Backpedal mode: Engaged.

"I m-meant-I just meant yeah, we can go together. As friends, or whatever. Either one, I mean-Hey, why uh-W-why don't we just go together, and then while we're there we can…We'll figure it out if we work _together_ together…"

_Shitty shit shit_, Bella thought. _Shit._

All feces aside, Leah seemed to be taking her babbling extremely well.

"Actually…That sounds like a great idea," Leah said thoughtfully. "Yeah, alright. You're on, Izzy. The tickets are for this Friday at 8:30. I can pop by at like eight to pick you up, and it will only be a date if it works out like one...If you want it to be. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," Bella smiled feebly, cursing her foot-in-mouth syndrome.

Leah smiled back, a pretty genuine smile that Bella had never seen on her before, and then they both turned back to face the volleyball game.

_What did I just do?_ Bella wondered miserably, crossing her arms anxiously.

Her eyes sought out Alice, and she blinked when she saw Alice staring right at her with the most vicious look the pixie had ever aimed at her before. She blushed, and had the distinct feeling that Alice somehow _knew_ what had just happened between her and Leah.

And she did not like it.

One.

Damn.

Bit.

When the ball was served onto Alice's side of the net a moment later, Alice quickly turned and jumped straight up in the air, treading the line between human and inhuman ability and spiked the ball so hard that when it slammed into the floor, it exploded.

With a loud _pop_, the volleyball blew open and several girls, including Jessica and Angela, shrieked and leapt back from the net, startled.

_Oh my god_, Bella tensed, heart skipping a beat when Alice landed nimbly, still glaring right into her eyes.

The high squeal of the whistle blowing was the only sound that followed in the stunned hush.

"Jesus Christ, Cullen, I said no spiking!" Coach Basselor yelled, though she seemed incredibly impressed.

Alice didn't even look at her. She had eyes only for Bella, and those eyes were dark and angry and, unbelievably, making Bella wet with the cold hard _possessiveness_ she could read in them.

"Cullen, hit the bench!" Basselor demanded.

Alice did not storm over and yank Bella away from Leah to show the Quileute who she belonged to as Bella may or may not have been fantasizing about her doing, or even come and sit on their side of the gym. She walked over to the opposite bleachers and sat on the bottom most one, never breaking her steely gaze from Bella's as everyone watched her go, shocked by the power the tiny girl had displayed.

Bella found it was getting harder to breathe, and she actually clenched her thighs, undeniably aroused. She probably shouldn't be, but Alice always was the most beautiful when she was impassioned, and right then, she was the epitome of that. She shivered when Alice's eyes flickered to where her thighs pressed together, exposed in her gym shorts.

Yet slowly, Bella's own eyes hardened.

_Are you angry at me, Alice?_ Bella thought, trying to communicate silently with the seething vampire from across the gym. _Do you even know what we're talking about, or do you just hate the fact that I'm talking to Leah at all when you know she's into me?_ _Do you even have the right to be angry with me at all?_

As if Alice could actually hear her, she practically saw the _yes_ burning across her face as Alice's fists clenched.

_Then why don't you _do_ something about it?_

And Bella knew by the way Alice moved when the bell rang twenty minutes later that _something_ was definitely what she intended to do as she shot up off the bench and disappeared into the locker room with that look on her face.

Bella just wasn't sure what that something would turn out to be.

* * *

_**These next few chapters are going to swing back to focusing on some lovely Bellice time, Cassie's drama, and Rosalie's drama. They're going to be shorter, too. Like I said, those 10k chapters are killer on the wrists, yo. But shorter chapters means faster updates, so good trade off, no?**_

_**But for those of you who like Victoria, don't worry. Vicky will most definitely be making a reappearance, and once she does, the ball will really get rolling ;) Think of all this lighter drama as the set up for the heavier stuff. Besides, once the ball gets rolling again, I can't really say when it's going to stop again. **_


	17. Chapter 17

_**I missed the five day mark. Damn. I can tell you guys were getting antsy for an update, lol. I tried though. But technically, I wrote like three chapters, considering how much I rewrote this SOB chapter. This one was really difficult for some reason. Writer's block is hell. Still. I've learned the best way past that is to bulldoze through it instead of bowing down to it, because if I tried to circumvent it, or wait for it to go away...**_

_**Well, I know myself. And you wouldn't have seen me for a few weeks, maybe even months if it got bad enough. Anyway, hope this one is worth the wait. **_

* * *

Bella figured she would have at least until tonight when Alice was supposed to be dropping by to gather herself and figure out a way to fix this mistake before the vampire got too angry.

Nope.

She got about, oh…

Ten minutes?

If that.

The bell signaling the end of gym rang about five minutes after Alice got benched. Everyone streamed into the locker room to change or shower, depending on what they felt like they needed to freshen up. Some people worked harder than others in gym.

Everyone also gave Alice a wide berth as they took note of the palpable tension radiating off of her, and having seen the way she demolished that volleyball, they also seemed to be regarding her either with disbelief, respect, or a mild sense of fear.

Bella was one of the ones giving Alice space as she changed her clothes and reapplied deodorant, not having worked up a sweat or anything because she sat out for most of the period anyway. It took a lot of effort not to turn and stare when Alice yanked her shirt off and began furiously switching into her normal clothes, also not needing a shower because she was a vampire and vampires didn't sweat.

_I am not a pervert_, Bella told herself. _And I definitely shouldn't be trying to sneak a peek after that. God, why am I such an idiot? Stupid, stupid, stupid Bella! Why did I do that? Jeez, she really looks mad…Well, no wonder. Wouldn't you be too? _

Bella was already thinking of ways to get out of it, and apologize to Alice.

How was she supposed to say sorry for that though?

Maybe if she got down on her knees with her hands together and begged for forgiveness…Or was that too much?

Probably too much.

Bella really hadn't meant to say yes like that. She was just confused about everything and Leah, who was usually so cool and aloof had looked so hopeful, and she had been taking too long to respond, and it just kind of came out like a nasty splurge of word vomit, of which Bella knew she was prone to when she panicked.

Bella did not want to go on a date with Leah, but she really was not the kind of person who was good at hurting other people's feelings, especially people she liked. She certainly wouldn't mind going to a movie as friends with her, but now she was in hot water because going on a date with anybody right now was plain stupid, unwanted, and only bound to make things worse, and she didn't want to date anyone but Alice in the first place.

Was it even technically a date? Bella had said something to the effect of it _possibly_ turning into one, and what did that even _mean_? Who the hell even did that? That didn't make any sense, and the odds of Leah not seeing it as one were slim to none, not to mention the odds of being able to make Alice understand that were looking increasingly slim as well. Bella watched the girl slam her locker shut with too much force and the sound of it echoed throughout the room.

"Jeez Cullen!" Jessica yelped from beside her as Bella winced and a few other girls flinched in surprise. "What's the matter with you?"

_Shut up, Jess_, Bella thought desperately when Alice leaned down and yanked up her gym bag, ignoring her altogether.

Leah chose that time to saunter by everyone.

Butt.

Fucking.

Naked.

Bella's cheeks felt like two burning light bulbs as she froze in the middle of zipping up her own gym bag, crouched over and stunned stupid.

Leah had a towel slung over her shoulder, and was shamelessly moving past everyone towards the showers, where _normally_ most people chose to get naked so as to preserve dignity and keep the whole locker room from being awkward, which it was bound to get if everyone just up and decided to traipse around in their birthday suits.

Leah had no such qualms about her body, or anyone else seeing it.

It was easy to see why.

The girl was _fit_. Leah had a flat set of washboard abs, full breasts with dusky Hershey's kiss nipples and long, lean legs that seemed to go for miles. Bella stared without meaning too, finding it suddenly hard to swallow.

She may have loved Alice, and wanted no one but her.

But how the actual fuck was she supposed to _not_ look?

She didn't want to touch, but _wow_, Leah had one hell of a body. She was a hormonal teenager, and it was hard not to admire that. She didn't mean to look, but it wasn't like she saw naked girls every day of her life, and seeing them in reality was a whole lot different from fantasies or anything else. She averted her eyes quickly, refusing to look anywhere but at Leah's face.

Leah paused as the sound of Alice's locker door slamming shut echoed, and turned to stare at the vampire with an undeniably _smug_ smirk on her face.

She then turned, looked right at Bella, winked, and kept on going to disappear into the shower stalls on the far side of the room.

_Shit._

Bella grimaced, and when her eyes met Alice's across the room, she knew Leah had just pushed her out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Alice was _seething_.

_Why did she do that?_ Bella thought angrily as she stood up straight and gnawed on the inside of her lip. _Why the hell did you do that Leah? She did that on purpose! She totally did that purely to piss Alice off! Great. Just great._

"Uh oh," Jessica muttered next to her when Alice stormed over to them, several girls looking around at the scene. "You're in for it now," Jessica actually had the gall to _giggle_ at her.

"We need to _talk_," Alice growled the moment she reached her.

Bella stared, close to swallowing her tongue as she squirmed anxiously, shrugging her gym bag uncertainly onto her shoulder.

"_Now_."

With that, Alice stalked off, clearly expecting her to follow.

And follow Bella did, helplessly, knowing that Jessica was completely right.

She was definitely in for it now. She felt a surge of irritation for Leah. Her little wink was _not_ appreciated.

_I should have just said no. Who cares if she got her feelings hurt? If she's acting like that then I wouldn't even feel bad for rejecting her_, she thought as Jessica gave her a sympathetic look and a playful, "Good luck, Bells."

She was really going to need it as she ignored all the staring eyes and followed after Alice, having to speed walk to keep up with the vampire as she barged out of the locker room and kept going without looking back.

She could practically see the wrath pulsing off of Alice in the air, the tight hunch of her shoulders as they walked out of the gymnasium, headed somewhere Bella didn't know. Technically, they were supposed to remain in the gym. They had about ten more minutes of free time before the next period would start considering the fact that neither of them had showered, so she wasn't worried about being late. She only hesitated for a moment before she realized the coaches weren't even looking in their direction and then she hurried after an uncaring Alice.

She was just worried about what Alice was going to say, or do.

The girl was _pissed_, as pissed as Bella had ever seen her…Or at least at herself.

She supposed she was going to deserve it, whatever it would turn out to be. Bella could feel the dread creeping up on her as Alice moved through the mostly empty hallways, walking so fast that the brunette practically had to jog to keep up.

Alice led her on and on, and Bella was just to the point where she was going to risk asking where they were going when the vampire cut down a dead end hallway and walked up to a janitor's closet, which she promptly ripped open and gestured for Bella to enter.

"Are you serious?" Bella frowned, peering into the gloom of it, wrinkling her nose at the dusty smell. The closet looked like it hadn't been opened in years. Did Forks even _have_ a janitor? She had never seen one if they did.

Alice said nothing, only glared at her, and Bella decided that yes, she must be serious.

She sighed apprehensively but walked into the tiny closet anyway, wondering how smart of an idea this really was. Probably not at all, but she didn't have much choice, considering this was her own fault anyway.

Bella turned around quickly at the sound of the door snapping shut hard behind her, and winced when Alice swiftly reached up and yanked on the chain that flickered the old light bulb to life, filling the place with a dull, yellow light.

"Uh…" Bella muttered, dropping her stuff on the floor as Alice did the same and rubbing nervously at the back of her neck when Alice only continued to glare at her with dark eyes.

Well.

This was awkward.

_I'm so screwed_, Bella thought and shifted from foot to foot, trying to ignore the aura Alice's pheromones were creating in her agitation. She was made even more nervous by them, but she knew Alice would never hurt her or lose her control or anything.

Not unless she bit her or something.

"Sooo…" Bella mumbled and squirmed, suffocating under the tension when Alice remained silent. "You wanted to talk?"

"What the _hell_ was that?" Alice snapped, folding her arms and cocking one hip out.

_Here we go_, Bella tensed up at the aggressive posture.

Ugh, this totally wasn't fair.

Why did Alice have to look even sexier when she was pissed off? With her eyes hard and glinting in the dim light, her lithe ballerina's form stiff with her anger, her fae like features drawn tightly…

_Stop it_, Bella told herself in annoyance.

It was hard, though. Alice was so, so beautiful, and it honestly boggled her how she was more attracted to a fully clothed, irate Alice than a completely naked, sultry Leah.

Love does funny things to people, apparently.

Funny, wonderful things that twisted her belly with both shame and arousal.

How could anyone else ever compare to this girl? They couldn't. Now somehow she had to convince Alice of that.

"Er-Well, you see…I uh, I kinda-I mean…You heard?" Bella said meekly, uselessly, because obviously the vampire had, and Alice's scowl almost melted her where she stood.

"Every word," Alice locked her jaw, and Bella felt herself sink a little deeper into the mess she had made when she saw that familiar muscle going in it.

Alice's hearing was better than she thought.

For the briefest moment, Bella's mind cycled through any possible way to make it seem like it had been anything other than what it was, but not only would that be ineffectual, but that was not how she wanted things to be between her and Alice.

_Tell her, you coward. Just say it. Own up to your mistakes. You owe her that much. Don't be a hypocrite. You wanted to talk, now it's time to talk. _

"Look-Jesus, Alice, I didn't mean to, alright? Don't be mad. I fucked up, I know. I just panicked. I panicked!" Bella stammered desperately.

"You didn't _mean_ to?"

The pitch of Alice's voice was going up a little, and Bella knew she was on thin ice that was cracking with every step she took.

"No! I was just-I didn't want to hurt her feelings, and I was so confused about what was happening between us, and I spoke without thinking!" Bella exclaimed, knowing how feeble she sounded.

Alice's scoff was enough to let her know how feeble she thought it sounded too, and Bella felt her panic rising.

"Are you _serious_?" she said, uncrossing her arms and staring in disbelief. "After everything we've been through-After what we _said_? Do you _like_ her? You want to go and _date_ someone else after- After _all_ that? After we-After I-"

Alice, who was always so articulate and poised, was struggling to put into words exactly what she thought of _that_, and so Bella knew exactly how much shit she was in because of it.

"No! No, I don't want to date Leah! I tried to take it back! You must have heard me say no, too!" Bella reminded her frantically as Alice scowled.

_I suck, I suck, I suck_, she thought, furiously kicking herself. Everything she said was just making it worse.

"Yeah, after you said _yes_ first! Bella-For God's _sake_, I told you! I asked you flat out if you meant it when you said-when you said you _loved_ me! And you-You told me you did, and now you do this? _Why_? All you had to do was tell me you didn't mean it! I _needed_ the truth from you. If you didn't love me, why didn't you just say so instead of- Instead of doing _this_?"

"Alice," Bella breathed, her heart stopping as the girl's voice cracked. The angry front she was putting up was concealing a much more hurt interior, and a horrible feeling of guilt and shame welled up in her at it.

_Oh Alice. Oh Alice, no. Why did I do that? I'm such an idiot!_

Alice was reading way more into this than she assumed, and Bella rushed to stop that train of thought before it went any further, even if it meant throwing herself head first into the moving train itself.

"No, no, no. _No_, Alice. Listen to me, _listen_," Bella demanded, stepping towards the vampire, whose eyes she _hated_ to see were shining.

_Fix it. Fix it, right now, you idiot. Fix it!_

"You think I didn't mean it? You think I don't love you?" Bella said, ducking her head to catch Alice's eyes when the girl scowled and looked away from her. "Because I _do_. I _love_ you, Alice. You think I want Leah? Because I don't. I don't want to date Leah. I messed up, I know, and I'm so, _so_ sorry. Please, you've got to believe that."

If her declaration did anything, Bella couldn't see it, because Alice whipped her gaze back to her and hissed, "Then why did you say _yes _to her? And you sure weren't saying that when you saw her naked, were you?"

"That's not fair," Bella protested. "I looked for like, half a second, because I was _surprised_. And then I looked away, because I don't _want_ _her,_ Alice. You think I could have looked away if that had been you standing there with no clothes on?"

Alice's glare was infuriating at the same time that it was terrifying as she scrambled to explain herself.

"I just panicked, okay? I didn't know what to do, and I was so _confused_ because we haven't _talked_ about anything! All we've done is make out and pretend like nothing ever happened, and I was so-so fucking _scared_ that you didn't mean it, and I _panicked_. I said yes because I didn't want to hurt her feelings, and because I was taking too long to answer because all I could think of was _you_, and how much I _loved_ you and how much I didn't know what the hell was going on with us!" Bella ranted, trying to make her understand.

"Then why didn't you _talk_ to me about it?" Alice shouted, and the volume of her voice cut through Bella, down to the quick. "If you wanted to, I was around plenty of times! There was _no_ reason you couldn't come to me! I wasn't running from you or any of this. If you were so confused, why didn't you-"

"Because of what happened the _first_ time I tried to talk to you about all of this!" Bella broke in furiously, heart hammering. "Or did you forget how I almost _died_? It was hard enough to put my heart on the line the first time, and when I did, I screwed _everything_ up. You and Jasper are _over_ because of me, and I was trying to give you time, space, because I thought you needed it, but the more time that went by and you never brought it up, I thought-I thought you were regretting it, and I didn't know if you were only kissing me because you'd given up on Jasper, or-God, I don't _know_, Alice!" Bella cried.

"I didn't know where we were supposed to go from there, and I was waiting for you to take the lead because I-I have _no_ idea what I'm doing and I love you so much, but I have no idea what you really feel, or if you really love me back, and I've never felt anything like this before for _anyone_, and I just…" Bella trailed away as she felt hot tears stream down her face at an alarming rate, her heart seconds away from breaking.

_Please don't hate me_, she thought miserably. _Alice, please, listen to me. Please believe me_.

Alice drew back at the sight of her tears and inhaled sharply, looking anguished and uncertain. The same way Bella could not stand when Alice cried, her own tears always hit the vampire hard.

What else could she say? Bella didn't know how else to say it anyway. She wiped at her eyes, feeling as if she wasn't the one who got to cry here.

She knew she messed up. She knew she couldn't really take it back. All she could do was hope and pray that Alice believed her, and did not think for certain that Bella really didn't love her.

Because she did. She knew it deep in her bones that she did. All she wanted was fall into Alice's arms, cling to her and never let go again.

Now she was ruining any chance of that. Like she _always_ did.

"Please believe me," Bella breathed when Alice looked away from her, her eyes glimmering with tears she couldn't shed. "Alice, _please_. I'm telling you the truth. Please say you believe me. Please say you still-Please say you still love me too."

That did it.

Alice's eyes snapped back to her, and they blazed so hotly that Bella could hardly stand it.

"You're really asking me that?" she hissed, and shoved her hand out, bewildering Bella. "Do you see a ring on my finger, Bella?" Alice snapped.

Bella stared, her throat closing as she shook her head, staring at Alice's bare ring finger, comprehension dawning on her, and she felt even worse.

"No, you don't," Alice went on, and yanked her hand back. "And you know why? Because I gave it up for you. I gave up _everything_ for you. _I_ ended things with Jasper, not the other way around. I wasn't kissing you as a last resort, I was kissing you because _I love you_. How can you think for even a second that I didn't mean it?"

Bella shrank further, biting on her bottom lip. She closed her eyes for a bit longer than a standard blink, basking in Alice's declaration, feeling it warm her insides as it had before, even as she began to feel cold from her mistake, fearing, and not for the first time, that she was going to lose Alice despite all of that.

_Why do I have to fuck everything up?_ Bella thought morosely when she opened her eyes again and saw Alice staring at her with shiny, hard amber eyes.

Just because Alice loved her didn't mean Bella couldn't ruin that by making that stupid, stupid mistake by saying yes to Leah.

So she gave it one last try.

"Alice, I love you, and you love me. I don't want _Leah_. When I said yes to her, it was not because I wanted to date her. I was trying to say we could go as friends, and it all came out wrong, because while I was sitting there, looking at her, all I could see was _you_. That's all I ever see when I look at someone else. I think of _you_, and how no one can compare to you. You're _all_ I ever think about anymore Alice, and…And I don't want anyone else. All I want is _you_."

Alice looked right into her eyes, and swore.

"Jesus Christ, Bella. Why don't you _get_ it?" Alice whispered, and then she leaned in and kissed her.

Bella whimpered in surprise as she inhaled Alice's aroma, tasted the softness of her lips, even as Alice growled into her mouth and pushed her backwards.

_What-?_

She yelped and then groaned in bewildered delight when her back smacked into the shelving behind her and Alice's arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close as she kissed her firmly, insistently, folding her body close to her own cool one.

"Al-Alice-Mmph-" Bella shivered as their lips broke a moment later and she shuddered at the feel of Alice against her, heart racing as it did every time Alice's lips met hers.

"You've got me, Bella. You want me? You've _got_ me," Alice whispered against her mouth, brushing their noses together in an intimate move that made Bella's breath hitch.

"Alice," she murmured, and moaned lightly when Alice kissed her again, this time letting her tongue delve into the cavern of her mouth. When they brushed, electricity lit through Bella and she wrapped her arms around Alice's neck eagerly, hungrily, lovingly.

_I've got her. Does she mean that? What does that mean?_

Alice rumbled again, her chest vibrating in a delicious way as her hands squeezed Bella's hips, making them tremble.

"You've had me all along Bella," she breathed when she pulled back a second later. "From the moment we've met, you had me. But I want you too, baby, I do," Alice continued, shuddering when Bella couldn't resist peppering soft little kisses to the corner of her mouth, aroused and elated at every word coming out of Alice's mouth and their closeness.

_Oh god, she really does love me_, she thought. _I haven't ruined us. _

"You've got me," Bella said quickly, rushing to reassure her. "How could you not Alice? You have me too. I'm _yours_."

Something about this word made Alice growl aloud, a low sound that made the hairs on the back of her neck raise, but in a good way, and when Alice kissed her again, it was deep and hard and breathtaking. Bella moaned helplessly as Alice pressed harder into her, lifted her by her waist and set her down on the low set shelf jutting out from the wall.

"You're _mine_," Alice hissed, cupping the side of her neck and dragging her lips from Bella's mouth, down to her neck, where she smothered the sensitive skin there with her mouth.

Ah.

Bella recognized the possessiveness in Alice's tone, and it made a solid flush of heat flash to her sex as her stomach got all knotted up in arousal as the vampire's instincts were revealed in entirety. Vampires were notoriously possessive, and territorial. No wonder Alice was so pissed off and jealous all the time, especially _this_ time.

She probably shouldn't be so turned on by it, but she couldn't help it. Being _Alice's_ sounded so fucking good, and giving Alice that certainty was really…

Hot.

"You're mine, and not anyone else's. Not Edward's, or Leah's, _mine_. And _only_ mine," Alice growled as Bella squirmed and fisted a handful of those silky black locks in her hand, trembling and closing her thighs on Alice's waist.

"_Yours_," Bella repeated, just to taste it on her tongue, and Alice shuddered against her. It felt so right to say it, so right to know it.

_I am hers. I am Alice's_, she thought, feeling it fill up her heart, and Alice's mouth met hers again in a blindingly delicious kiss that curled her toes.

But when they broke apart, she had to say it.

"And you're mine," Bella said softly, causing Alice to pause as her hands braced on the shelf besides Bella's hips.

_You're mine too, right Alice? Not Jasper's…Are you mine now? Please say you are…_

"Yes," Alice groaned. "I'm _yours_, Bella. I'm all yours."

Bella almost squealed, but she contained herself, because that would have been totally uncool.

She just loved Alice so _much_, and now together really meant together. She was with Alice. She was with Alice, and so nothing else in the world mattered.

"God, Bella, I can't _stand_ it," Alice suddenly gasped and pressed their foreheads together, her voice husky and unbelievably erotic. "I can't stand the thought of you with someone else. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten so mad, but Bella baby, you don't _know_…You don't know the things you _do_ to me…"

_Oh god_, Bella thought, Alice's words lapping provocatively at her ear drums. _She sounds so…_

The thing she did to _Alice_? Could they even be a fraction of what Alice did to _her_, was doing to her with just the sound of her voice?

Alice pressed closer to her, if it was possible, and Bella could feel the pheromones thickening as Alice hooked her fingers into the belt loops of her jeans and _yanked_ her forward.

Fuck, that was hot.

"I can't stand the thought of you with someone else Bella. It drives me _insane_. To think of someone else having you, holding you, touching you…God, _no_."

"They _won't_. Nobody will but you, Alice. I don't want anyone else but _you_," Bella vowed, and when their eyes locked up again, it flipped her stomach fully over.

This time when Alice kissed her, they did not break apart. Alice's tongue dove back into her mouth and she whimpered when she felt the vibrations of her growl run through her body. The fire Alice kindled inside her surged and flames licked at Bella, _hunger_.

She couldn't help but cry out when Alice's hands slipped under her and grabbed her ass, hauling her literally off the shelf and upwards, so that Bella's face had to tilt completely down to keep kissing her as she fell into the girl, arms around her neck to stay steady.

Damn, she really loved this girl. Alice's strength was one of the perks of being with a vampire.

Alice squeezed her, and Bella moaned desperately, wantonly, turned on with her heart soaring in bliss.

They were _together_ now.

They loved each other, and now Alice had finally solidified it into something real.

It felt _perfect_.

When Alice set her back down, it was only so that she could run her hands up Bella's sides, brushing against her breasts in a way that made her groan. She ran her own hands down Alice's back, over the silky material of her blouse and loved the way Alice arched inward at her touch. She could not resist slipping her hands up under it, just to feel the smooth muscles that tensed under her touch, and knew it was worth it when Alice let out this high pitched moan of delight into her mouth.

Alice, of course, had to meet this by ducking her head down to latch onto the underside of Bella's chin, forcing the girl's head to fall back and thud into the wall with a gasp as the vampire suckled at a spot she had never known could be so sensitive, and then cupped her breasts in both hands.

That was a bit of surprise, in the sense that it made Bella mewl and arch, but not because she didn't welcome it.

The chemistry between them seemed to have no inhibitions.

Alice had the deftest touch, and when she squeezed Bella with just the right amount of pressure, the human _melted_.

"Alice," she swooned, staring up at the dusty ceiling, throat bobbing. "Jesus, _Alice_."

The sound of her name on Bella's lips was enough to pull the vampire right back to them, and they kissed once more, tongues dueling, Bella pressing her chest further into those hands and clinging to Alice with a hot pulsation throbbing between her thighs.

When Bella let her own hands drop boldly to Alice's ass and cup it, however, the daze was ruined.

"_Slow_!" Alice gasped, rearing back, and Bella whimpered in confusion when the vampire grasped at her wrists, squeezing lightly.

"Alice?"

Confused, and fearing that somehow she had been the one to push them too far, Bella stared at her with her chest heaving.

_Crap, was that too much? Did I do something wrong? _She wondered frantically, but Alice only shook her head and put her hands back on the shelf as Bella pulled her own back to place them on the vampire's shoulders.

"Slow, Bella," Alice repeated softly, and Bella shivered when the girl kissed her cheek, the side of her head, the shell of her ear.

_What? _Bella tilted her head, enjoying the kisses either way, but still perplexed as to what Alice was getting at.

And melting into her underwear. Oh wow, she was _really_ turned on. She could feel the slickness between her thighs, and wondered vaguely if Alice could actually smell her arousal.

That didn't help, and Bella had to shut her eyes to fight off another wave of it.

"Slowly…" Alice murmured against her mouth. "We have to slow down…"

_Why? _Bella's libido protested, but she took a heavy breath, which also turned out to be a mistake because all she inhaled was Alice's white chocolate and berries scent.

"Slow," Bella parroted weakly as Alice pulled away from her to gaze into her eyes.

Slow was _not_ what her sex was screaming for.

Alice's irises were the color of a midnight sky, and her pupils were dilated. Bella remembered then that she was locked in a tiny closet, making out with a vampire, and probably severely testing the girl's instincts.

Oops.

"Bella…You have no idea...It's not that I don't want to keep going, because God, I do. I _want_ you, but…" Alice sighed heavily and shifted back. She did not seem to be physically breathing anymore.

"Not here. I don't want to go too far, especially not in a place like this," Alice told her, her voice sounding thick and raspy in a way that Bella knew meant there was a part of Alice that didn't give a damn that they were in a janitor's closet and would gladly go all the way.

Bella hadn't really been thinking about that, or what they were doing at all really. It was hard to think with Alice's lips on hers, when the girl was so sexy and beautiful, and she loved her so much.

As she stopped and looked around though, she saw the point Alice was trying to make, and why she had pulled back.

This was definitely not the place to get ahead of themselves.

"So let's slow down baby," Alice murmured, and leaned in to give her a much softer, sweeter kiss, which Bella died a little under.

Alice calling her baby did wonderful things to the butterflies that fluttered in her belly. She had always thought if someone were to call her that pet name that it would irritate her, but no. She loved it from Alice.

"We have all the time in the world now…Let's settle in first. Settle in with me, Bella, before we do anything else. You're mine…And I am yours. Let's not rush anything," Alice continued.

"Okay," Bella agreed, shifting to sit up straighter as Alice took a step back and put her hands on the brunette's knees, squeezing them gently. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to compose herself (which wasn't really working, she was still beyond turned on after that little interaction) as Alice straightened out her blouse, and when they looked at each other, Bella felt that shift their relationship had taken shift one more time…

And it all just fell into place.

It wasn't weird anymore.

It was _perfect_.

"Alice," Bella spoke, and had to clear her throat when it came out lower than she meant to. Alice's eyes twinkled knowingly at it, and she blushed, suddenly shy.

They were together now, and Bella did not want any doubts lingering in Alice's mind. None at all.

"Um…You're right. We should move slower, but…I love you, you know that right? Leah doesn't mean anything at all to me, not compared to you. I'm going to make it right. I won't go to the movies with her, or even…I won't even talk to her anymore, if that's what it takes to make it up to, to prove to you that you're the only one I want, that I _need_."

Alice smiled then, a nose crinkling smile that made her heart skip a beat, even though her eyes seemed kind of sad.

"Oh, Bells…Don't worry about it, honey. I think I knew the whole time that you only said yes because you're too nice, and because you were confused. And you were right. I should have come to you first. The ball was in my court, and it was my turn to step up. You were giving me all the time I needed. I was just…I was just trying to let the dust settle. It felt wrong to jump into your arms right after everything ended with Jasper…Even if that was all I wanted to do."

Bella opened her mouth to tell her that she was the one to blame, not Alice, but Alice kept going.

"It's just so unreal how much I feel for you Bella. I've never felt like this for anyone before, not even Jasper. And when Leah asked you out, and you said yes…I freaked. I thought I was going to lose you because I couldn't get it together. I knew you were confused, but I didn't know how to tell you how much I really do love you. I was afraid you didn't really love me, too…"

"I do though. I do love you Alice," Bella said, leaning towards her and slipping off the shelf, back to her feet.

Alice had to know that. She needed her to know.

"I know. I know that now. I believe you Bella. You being with me is the only proof I need," Alice said, and leaned in to kiss her to soothe the panic beginning on Bella's face. "But yeah, if you cancel things with Leah, that would be great. I don't want to be the person that tries to tell you who you can and can't be friends with though, even though I really wish you wouldn't be friends with _her_…"

"I will. I definitely will. The first chance that I get," Bella declared, and caught Alice's hand in her own, her libido dying down slowly. It felt so good to be able to touch Alice like this, lace their fingers together when she knew what it really meant now. "No more Leah. I won't go to the movies with her at all, or hang out with her anywhere but at school."

She didn't want to fuck Leah over completely, but she knew if Alice had asked her too, she probably would have in her love struck daze. She knew that probably wasn't a good outtake to have on it, so it was a good thing Alice wasn't a controlling type of person.

Bella pretty sure she would do anything for the girl, if only she asked. She wasn't sure if there was anything she _wouldn't_ do.

She felt awful about doing that to Alice, for scaring her like that and making her think for even the briefest moment that she was going back on what she'd told her that day in the rain.

She just wished she could understand why Alice hated Leah so much, jealousy aside. This certainly wouldn't help matters. She was still annoyed with the Clearwater girl for fucking with Alice like that when she knew it would piss her off.

"Good. Because I meant it, Bella. When I said together, _this_ was the together I meant," Alice said, and Bella softened immensely when Alice took her hand and pressed it to her chest, right where her heart was. "My heart may not beat, Bella, but it certainly still _feels_. I love you, and I need you to be mine. _Only_ mine. Because I'm already yours," Alice reminded her with a fierce look in her eyes that rekindled her arousal in about two seconds flat.

_You're pathetic, Swan_, she told herself, but couldn't stop the goofy grin on her face.

"I'm yours," Bella agreed. "And you are mine."

Alice's smile matched hers brilliantly, and when they realized how dopey they looked just grinning at each other, they giggled. But still, when the urge overtook her, Bella could not resist kissing Alice softly on the mouth.

It was a long, intimate kiss, one that to Bella seemed to just really seal the deal, and set her heart pounding joyously.

When they broke apart, she felt like she had to say something.

"But Alice," she said, and almost cooed at how freaking adorable the girl looked when she cocked her head to the side.

"Yeah?"

"If we hadn't stopped, even if we didn't go slow…It would still be perfect to me. No matter how it happens, or when or where, it will be perfect, because I'll be with you. I don't care if we go slow or fast, because I love you, and that's all I need," Bella said, and for the first time, she realized she had the ability to make Alice swoon, too.

And swoon she did.

Alice's expression filled with that gooey look Bella's friends had told her about before, and when Alice swayed forward and locked their lips, she knew it was on her face too.

_Ugh. I'm going to be auditioning for a Hallmark movie if we keep this up_, she thought, but she loved it.

"Bella," Alice groaned against her mouth. "I agree wholeheartedly, but still…I'm going to give you better than that. I won't give you anything less than you deserve. And _baby_-"

Bella blushed and shivered when Alice squeezed her hips and pulled her close.

Oh.

Well then.

"When it does happen, and it _will_ happen," Alice murmured, her voice silky smooth as she lowered her lips to Bella's ear and made her stiffen in shock of eroticism. "I'm going to give you everything you deserve. I'm going to _worship_ you, Bella, the way you should be worshiped. And I'm going to do it in a warm, comfortable bed, not in some disgusting janitor's closet. I'm going to etch it into every inch of your skin with my hands, my lips, my tongue. I'm going to _love_ you, baby…When the time is right."

Dead.

Dead, dead, dead.

Bella was already six feet under at Alice's whispered promise in her ear, and when Alice pulled back and gave her one of those beaming smiles that was tinged with her minxish, mischievous smirk, she was sure she was gawking unattractively.

Her brain was shut down, and she scrambled to recover as the apex of her thighs filled with her wetness all over again.

_Jesus_, she thought.

How could Alice physically collapse her and emotionally lift her all at the same time?

"But every time is right when it's with you," Bella finally choked out the only thing she could think, and Alice rolled her eyes and laughed her tinkling laugh.

"You're just a horn dog," she joked, and Bella pouted at her in protest.

"I am not!"

"I'm just kidding Bells. Aww, you're so _cute_!" Alice cooed at the expression, and Bella gave her a playful scowl.

She frowned, however, when Alice's face suddenly twisted into an expression of horror.

"Oh my god," Alice whispered, eyes wide.

"What?" Bella tensed.

Hell, what was the matter now? What could possibly have gone wrong in the past three seconds-

"Spider!" Alice squeaked and jumped back, pointing one frantic finger at Bella.

"Spider?"

Bella froze, and felt something tickle the side of her neck…Like a tiny leg, perhaps?

_Oh my god._

"_Spider_!" Bella squealed and they both shrieked as she immediately began to flail, hysterically slapping at her neck to get that little monster off of her.

"Oh my god-Alice, _get_ it! Get if off me!"

"Stop it, you're going to get it on me!"

"Jesus-Fucking-Kill it, kill it! Ew, ew, _ew_!"

"No, get _away_ from me!"

Bella and Alice screamed at the same time as the human desperately spun in circles, trying to see the spider she had felt crawling on her neck, and in her desperation, she fell into Alice, and the vampire _lost_ it.

They tumbled back into the door, which broke open from their combined weight and Alice's frantic backwards scramble to avoid her. They staggered into the hallway as the door made a splintering sound, Alice darting out of her reach with vampiric speed as Bella hopped around and swore, slapping all over herself and shaking out her shirt.

"Is it gone? Where is it?" she stammered, feeling all over herself as Alice stood a safe five feet away, looking both horrified and beyond amused.

"There it is!" Alice suddenly yelped and Bella jumped a foot away as the vampire pointed to the floor at her feet.

A tiny, miniscule little dot on the floor was skittering back towards the safety of the closet, having somehow survived Bella's flailing limbs. It could be no bigger than Bella's pinky nail, and Bella watched it crawl with disgust.

"Little shit," she growled, shuddering as Alice finally collapsed into peals of laughter. "You jerk, why didn't you help me?" Bella demanded as the vampire giggled wildly.

"Like I was going to touch that thing? Ew, no way. I hate spiders," Alice grimaced as Bella glared at her.

"You're a _vampire_!" Bella threw up her hands in disbelief, and Alice snorted.

"So?"

"So how you can you be afraid of spiders?"

"Because they're gross?" Alice shrugged, eyes twinkling as Bella huffed, torn between annoyance and amusement at how ridiculous they were both being.

"So you're telling me you'd go toe to toe for Victoria for me, but you won't even get a tiny spider for me?"

Apparently even being supernatural could not override arachnophobia.

"I can kill it now, if you want," Alice pouted when Bella glowered playfully at her. "If you really want me to…"

"No, don't kill him! Look, he's going away. He's probably freaking out even more than we are," Bella waved her off, watching as the little guy scrambled back into the closet and disappeared.

She had no real issue with spiders. As long as they stayed away from her. And she couldn't see them. And basically pretend like they didn't exist.

"Seconds ago you were begging me to squish him, and now you're feeling bad for him?" Alice stared at her, the corners of her lips quirking up.

"Well…Yeah, I mean…It's different when he's not actually on me, ya know? I don't really want him to die," Bella shrugged, and was mildly confused when Alice shook her head at her, smiling wryly.

The vampire blurred into the closet and slung both of their bags over her shoulders before she came back out and shut the damaged door, which failed to close completely. Alice chose to ignore that.

"Come on, Tiger. Now that we're done playing with Charlotte's web over there, we should probably get to class," Alice motioned for her with a laugh, and Bella willingly slipped up against her, both of them wrapping their arms around each other's waist.

"Wait," she paused as Alice leaned her head into her shoulder. "Did the bell already ring?"

"Yep. That's gonna be another detention, babe. Boy, you're really racking them up lately, aren't ya?" Alice snickered as Bella swore.

"Damn it!" She stomped her foot, and it was only the sound of Alice laughing and pulling her along that consoled her.

Yeah.

Alice was totally worth detention. In fact, she was worth a whole lot more.

She was worth everything, really.

All the drama with Leah, Cassie, Victoria, and even the Volturi…

Alice was worth all of it, and more.

* * *

_**I like the variety of reactions everyone seems to have over Bella. Hopefully this explains her better. Just remember she's only eighteen guys, and no one is perfect. A lot of Bellice fics have either Alice or Bella perfect, and the other awful. Usually Bella is the awful one, but I prefer to take a more realistic route and give both characters flaws and positives alike. We all mess up sometimes. Luckily it's very hard for these two to stay mad at each other lol. **_

_**Oh, and I know some people have been asking about Bella and wondering why Edward can read her mind, and what that means for her and other vampiric powers, as well as what her own could turn out to be if she's turned. To that, all I can tell you is, you'll have to wait and see :P**_

_**I want to say the next chapter should come faster because all that fucking around I did trying to write this one has left some of it prewritten, but I feel like at this point I'm just jinxing myself. Quick, everyone knock on wood!**_


	18. Chapter 18

_**Not enough of you knocked on wood, apparently. My internet went out. I'm at a different house to post this, and I won't be receiving a new modem for a few days. Sigh. **_

* * *

The first chance Bella got to call off the plans with Leah was not until the day before they were scheduled to hang out, which was cutting it way too close in her opinion. So far she and Alice had decided to keep their relationship a secret, at least until Bella could deal with Leah. She really did not want the Quileute girl to find out like that. She felt like an asshole enough as it was, and wanted to do this as gently as possible.

Unfortunately, Leah seemed to constantly be surrounded by her annoying cousins Embry and Quil, and the less annoying but still in-the-way Jake. Bella definitely didn't want to let her down in front of anyone. But throughout every school day, the only time she could get the chance to talk to Leah was during class periods or lunch, where there was always someone around.

Namely Alice.

It was ironic, really. As much as Alice wanted her to tell Leah she they couldn't date, she seemed completely disinclined to give her the chance to do so. Alice had become even more possessive now that they were actually together, and it was irritating, arousing, and kind of funny to watch the vampire struggle with her instincts.

Alice was not a mean person, not at all. She wasn't even jealous by nature.

Her inner vampire, however, made that an entirely different story, and Bella quickly came to learn that when it came to her significant other, Alice was _very_ territorial.

Alice was touchy before, but now it seemed like she couldn't keep her hands off of Bella at all. All day Bella would feel Alice's hands on her, anywhere that could be mistaken for innocent…To anyone who didn't know them. On the small of her back, her shoulder, her waist, lingering just a little too long to be considered platonic, especially if Leah was in the vicinity. Bella could tell Alice wasn't doing it on purpose. She watched the vampire struggling any time anyone even looked her way, working to not act like an asshole girlfriend. The pixie also seemed to be at her side constantly.

It was cute at the same time that it was frustrating. She knew she didn't have to tell Alice she was no object to be owned, and besides. It was kind of hot to see sweet, tiny Alice bristle. And how could she possibly complain about the girl touching her? She loved Alice's hands on her. It made being subtle more difficult, and Bella felt guilty about getting turned on by it, but oh well.

The point was that between Alice's instincts and unfathomable hatred of Leah and the fact that Leah was constantly surrounded by her family, it was near impossible to get the girl alone to talk. She finally got the chance on a Thursday during lunch, when Alice was absent to talk about make-up work with one of her teachers.

Well…She didn't really get the chance. She just kind of took it.

"You guys are such children," Angela groaned as Mike and Eric arm wrestled across her and Jessica cheered her new boyfriend on. When Mike asked her out, the girl had jumped on the chance, having been crushing on him since freshman year pretty much. The whole group was overjoyed that Mike finally realized Jessica was into him as much as he was into her.

"No, he's a child. _I_ am a man!" Mike boasted, his face turning red as he and Eric struggled.

"Yeah right!" Eric scoffed as Angela rolled her eyes.

The Asian girl settled the whole thing by shoving Mike's arm down as Bella gnawed on a carrot and glanced over her shoulder at the table the La Push natives had taken for their own.

Leah was jocking around with the boys, shoving both Embry and Quil off of her as they tried to give her wet willies simultaneously while Jake laughed. She could see the girl smirking when they both about hit the floor, and Bella had to give Leah props. She was really strong. It made her remember how Leah had not flinched when Alice nearly broke her wrist, and she had to admit the native girl was pretty tough, especially to hang so effortlessly with those rowdy guys.

_How am I supposed to do this without being the total jerk I am? _She wondered with a sigh.

Bella turned back around and couldn't help but grin when she saw both Jessica and Mike protesting Angela's interference.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Mike whined.

"That was totally cheating!" Jessica added as Eric snickered and kissed his girlfriend on the cheek.

"There's no shame in my game bro. I don't mind letting my girl help me out," Eric said as Angela smirked.

Mike snorted as Jessica pouted and leaned into him consolingly. He put his arm around her shoulder and flipped Eric the bird while Bella watched them all in amusement.

"Yeah well, I don't need my girl to fight my battles for me," Mike retorted.

"I don't either. But I have no problem accepting her help," Eric shrugged, and Angela beamed at him.

"A real man wouldn't need help!" Mike declared.

"Yeah, what kind of guy relies on his girlfriend to fight for him?" Jessica interjected.

"Oh, that's great Jess. Just set the feminist movement back a couple hundred years," Angela laughed as Eric held her hand. Jessica stuck her tongue out at her.

"I'm the kind of guy who knows how to accept help when it's needed, and stand my ground on my own when I should," Eric proclaimed, and everyone laughed when he puffed his chest out and flexed his arms.

Mike and Jessica booed and threw carrots at him while Angela cooed and wrapped her arms around his neck adoringly. Bella just watched with a smile.

She felt a sudden pang for Alice as she gazed at all of them, and wished the vampire was here next to her to participate in the sickeningly cute couples' interaction going on with her. But she didn't even know if she was ready for that kind of PDA, what with all the crap she was still getting for being gay, and besides, there was still the matter of dealing with Leah.

She just loved Alice was all. And she missed her. (They'd only been apart for like twenty minutes, but still.)

Soon the topic of the conversation turned to one of their favorite topics as of late.

Prom.

Bella rolled her eyes and immediately tuned out.

They had been babbling about the upcoming prom nonstop all day, and Bella wasn't really big on school dances, so she went back to munching on carrots, absentmindedly humming noncommittally in all the right places to make them think she was paying attention when really all her thoughts were on Alice, as usual. And trying to figure out how to approach Leah.

The only time she couldn't feign interest was in the many places in the conversation where Angela or Jessica would give her a pointed look and tell her with total conviction that she was going to prom whether she wanted to or not, and she would be wearing a dress when she did so.

Bella had more important things to think about than a godforsaken school dance, whether it was her Senior prom or not, and as such gave them an eye roll at the least, and the middle finger at the most, never quite saying she would or wouldn't to keep them from badgering her further. (But on the inside, she was firmly thinking it would be a solid no to prom. Prom was lame, anyway. Why was everyone always so into it?)

Still. She should have been grateful for the topic of prom, because when they finally grew tired of discussing dresses and hairdos and make up and whatever else they had been chattering about, they turned their attention back onto Bella, and began berating her about Alice.

Crap.

"So Bella," Jessica said with a tone that made Bella roll her eyes preemptively, recognizing it.

"What, Jess?" Bella sighed, half glancing at her friend as she sipped on her soda.

"Has Alice given you any new hickeys lately?" Jessica drawled with a smirk.

"W-What-" Bella spluttered, half choking on her coke and blushing instantly as her hand self consciously flew to her neck.

_Shit, has she?_ Bella wondered frantically as Angela snorted a laugh out and Mike and Eric grinned lewdly. _I swear I told her to be more careful! Wait, they've noticed those other hickeys? Crap! I thought I had those covered!_

"Oh, relax, there's none we can see," Jessica snickered.

"This time," Angela muttered under her breath, and they both giggled at the look on Bella's face, which was somewhere between embarrassed and furious. "That last one she gave you is finally faded. It's kind of cute that you thought your hair was enough to cover it up, Bells."

Ah. So they _had_ noticed, and had correctly deduced the origin of it.

Bella had to close her eyes for a moment to fight off the pure embarrassment flowing through her.

_You idiot. Did you really think they wouldn't notice? _

"Will both of you shut _up_?" Bella hissed, glancing over her shoulder.

Unfortunately, Cassie Streeter and her usual sycophants shared this lunch with them. They were sitting at a nearby table and Bella was uncomfortably aware of the heat of Cassie's hateful glare coming across the room at her, always judging, always listening in for the best gossip or anything that could be used to hurt somebody.

"Chill, Bella. We were just wondering if there are some bruises we can't see below the neckline," Eric said, only slightly quieter.

"_No,_" Bella snapped, face on fire.

"What about the belt line?" Mike inquired with a falsely innocent curiosity, cocking his head to the side.

"Dude!" Bella put her face in her hands to hide the look of horrified mortification on it, and they all cackled. When she pulled it back out, she saw Cassie was still watching them, obviously trying to eavesdrop.

_Creepy bitch. Mind your own,_ Bella thought with a sudden surge of annoyance, glaring at her for a second before turning back to her insufferable friends.

Cassie Streeter.

Bella was getting really tired of her. From the moment of her outing, she had been catching flak from that girl and her terrible friends, and it was starting to really piss her off. Why did Cassie care so much if she was gay? Why did _anybody_? Why did it have to matter so much? As if she did not have enough to deal with already…

Like her friends, for instance.

"Are you guys telling me you've seen the other ones?" Bella whined miserably, mortified at the thought.

"So they _were_ from Alice!" Angela exclaimed, and shared a triumphant look with Jessica.

"What? I didn't say that!" Bella backpedaled desperately, realizing her mistake, but it was too late.

"Oh, don't give us that crap, Bella. Come on, _spill_. What's up with you and-What is it Leah always calls her? Oh, yeah. Pixie Sticks," Mike grinned, looking eagerly at her.

Perv.

"Guys-"

"And on the subject of Leah," Jessica added, readjusting herself against Mike. "What's up with you and her, too? You guys were looking pretty cozy in gym the other day. Jeez, Bella, you've been gay for like a month and a half and already you've got a lesbian love triangle going on."

Bella wasn't sure if the indignation and protest could be read on her face until she saw them all smirk, clearly amused.

Damn it. Why did she have to have such observant friends?

"Yeah, what's up with that, Bells? And they're not even the only ones! What ever happened to that chick, Veronica, or Victoria, whatever her name was? That slutty redhead girl who only came here for a couple of weeks. She was way into you, too," Eric reminded her.

Bella was seconds away from face palming in her exasperation with them. She could feel the headache from all the blood rushing to her face in embarrassment coming on.

Of _course_ they would remember Victoria. Who wouldn't? It wasn't like the redhead was exactly _subtle_ about her ogling.

"Oh man, I totally forgot about her!" Jessica exclaimed. "Seriously, she was always giving Bella the fuck me eyes. Angela, did you see her practically foaming at the mouth over her in first period that one time?"

"Totally! She always did that though. God Bella, who knew you were such a player?" Angela gave her a look that was only half joking in how impressed it was.

"I'm not!" Bella protested.

Why was her love life so interesting to everybody? Jesus! She searched for any way to change the subject, but came up blank as her face turned bright red.

She really needed to work on this whole blushing thing.

"I mean really though. There's only like four gay girls in Forks, including you, and you've got them all after you," Mike furrowed her brow as if she did not understand how that happened.

_Welcome to the club_, Bella thought, trying to figure out how to get them to shut up. She eyed the two oranges perched in the center of the table where they'd been abandoned by everybody who didn't want them, wondering if they would work as sufficient gags if she shoved them into their mouths.

She was not a player. She was apparently just a magnet for bullshit.

That was mostly her own fault, though.

And Alice wasn't really bullshit, but the girl she loved. Everything else though? Definitely BS.

"Maybe you're not a player. Maybe you're just a slut," Jessica said thoughtfully, and Bella scowled, annoyed.

"Jess!" Angela admonished, and slapped Jessica's arm as the girl giggled.

"Come on, I'm kidding Bella! You know I'm kidding," Jessica pouted when she saw Bella glaring.

Yeah, she knew that, but they were all still infuriating. Why was her outrage so amusing to them? She wasn't really in a good mood, and they weren't helping.

"Besides, Bella's not a slut. She's only got eyes for Alice, remember?" Angela drawled.

"Oh, of course. Those big moony eyes of hers," Jessica agreed as Bella fumed. Mike and Eric took it upon themselves to demonstrate those big moony eyes, adopting exaggerated, hopelessly lovesick expressions.

"I do _not_!" she ground out through clenched teeth, feeling her blush spreading to the tips of her ears.

That was…Okay, that one had some truth to it. Bella hated to admit it, but when it came to Alice, it was impossible for her attention not to be all on her. It wasn't her fault though! She couldn't help it.

"Please," Angela snorted. "It's a good thing we're not jealous friends or we might be a little hurt by it, honestly. Every time Alice comes around it's like no one else even exists to you, Bella."

Bella sat silently, wondering how psychotic she would look if she slammed her forehead into the table.

"Nothing is going on between me and Alice!" she hissed, ever aware of Cassie's stupid nosy ears.

Liar, liar.

_Nothing_ was the exact opposite of what was going on between her and Alice.

No one else was allowed to know that yet though.

"Face it, Bells. You're freaking star struck when it comes to that girl. And I don't know why you won't admit it. It's not like we're going to judge you for it or anything. We're your friends too, you know," Jessica muttered, and Bella had to pause.

They _did_ have a point.

Bella wondered for the first time if the reason they messed with her about it so much was because they were annoyed that they knew she was keeping things from them. She looked at Angela and Jessica and saw that even though they were smiling, they seemed genuinely upset under the laughter.

They were her best friends next to Alice, and Bella suddenly felt bad for keeping everything from them. Throughout it all, they had stuck by her like glue, never judging her for being gay or turning their backs on her for a second.

But it wasn't like she was doing that on purpose. There was nothing she _could_ tell them.

She was just on the verge of trying to find a way to apologize and explain the best way she could (Read: lie) when they opened their mouths again and ruined it.

"Yeah, but we're not her _special_ friend, Jess," Angela pointed out.

"Oh, right. We don't leave hickeys all over your neck, do we Bells?" Jessica grinned mischievously at her.

"Though I don't think me or Mike would complain if you did," Eric put in with a smirk, and Mike nodded.

"As long as we get to watch!"

"I hate you all," Bella growled, and they all dissolved into another fit of giggles.

_Why am I even friends with them?_ Bella thought, shaking her head and sighing as she rubbed at her forehead in exasperation.

She glanced over her shoulder again on reflex and started when she saw Leah staring over at her. The Quileute girl raised an eyebrow, and then jerked her head, gesturing for Bella to come over. Bella shifted as she noticed the tiny, soft smile on Leah's face that she never really gave to anyone but her.

Leah really just had no idea, did she? She had no idea that Bella's heart was already with Alice. And that was Bella's fault.

_She really likes me_, Bella thought. _Crap. I have to tell her. Soon. The longer I wait the worse it will be. I just have to do it. Just get up and go do it. Do it!_

"Hey guys, I'm gonna go talk to Leah for a second. I'll be right back," Bella stood abruptly, and ignored their surprised looks.

"Don't let Alice see!" Jessica called to her back, and Bella grimaced at the volume of her voice.

Thanks, Jess.

"Sup Bella?" Quil greeted the moment she reached them, and she gave him a weak smile in return.

As much as she really didn't like them, the La Push boys all seemed to like her. They liked to mess with her at least. She couldn't count how many spitballs the idiots had shot at her.

"Hey chick," Leah said amiably. "You looked like you needed a break from your friends over there."

"Yeah, I did, thanks," Bella chuckled a little, and waved back at Jake when the boy waved at her.

Nice guy, Jacob Black was. Not like Embry or Quil, who were already back at trying to stab each other with their forks.

"I know the feeling," Leah rolled her eyes, and kicked both of their chairs to make them stop. They jerked round and glared at her, and received only a haughty smirk in response. "Chill out, you idiots. Stop being so immature all the time."

"Stop trying to act all superior cause your _girlfriend_ is over here," Embry scoffed, and Leah scowled at him as Bella squirmed uncomfortably at the comment.

"Like I could get a girlfriend with everyone knowing I'm related to you two," Leah snapped, leaning back in her chair as Bella stood awkwardly, not knowing how to proceed.

How was she going to bring this up? She needed the boys to go away, because like hell was she letting Leah down in front of Embry or Quil, or even Jake. That would be downright humiliating, and she would never do that to her.

"Well better you than that Cullen girl," Jake interjected. "Seriously, Swan, I don't know why you like the Cullens so much. They're a bunch of freaks."

Bella's eyebrows shot up and she reflexively tensed, disliking his tone of voice. Usually Jake was the most chill out of all of them, and she'd never really heard him outright diss the Cullens before. Embry and Quil and sometimes Leah, yes, but not him.

"Alice isn't a freak. And neither are the rest of them," Bella frowned, glancing over at the Cullen's table. She could see all of them watching her, and she knew it was because she was talking to the La Push natives. Edward was staring intently, Emmett was pretending not to pay attention though Bella knew he was by the way his muscles were all tensed, and Rosalie…

Rosalie was glaring, like usual.

"Yeah right," Quil snorted under his breath, and Bella bristled.

She fought off her natural urge to defend the Cullens and especially the urge to kick Quil in the nuts for even partly insinuating something insulting about Alice, because she still needed to talk to Leah, and she didn't want anyone getting angry and making it more difficult.

"Why do you all hate each other so much?" she said instead.

Embry, Quil, and Jake's faces darkened, but Leah actually threw back her head and laughed.

"Because," Leah chuckled. "We're werewolves, Bella. And they're vampires."

Bella froze.

_Oh my god. Leah knows? They know? How?_ She internally panicked.

"Look how pale they are and then check out how hot we are," Leah went on, gesturing first at the Cullens and then at herself. "What else could it be?"

Oh. She was kidding.

Bella actually sighed softly in relief as she realized Leah was making a seriously ironic joke, and she watched as Embry and Quil tensed and Jake let loose a noise of protest.

"Leah!" he hissed, feigning protest like Leah was giving them away.

"What?" Leah scoffed at him, seeing his outraged glare. "It's not like she believes me. She'll just think we're joking. Right Bella? We're not really werewolves, by the way. We're more like shape shifters. Overgrown dogs, really."

"Shape shifters, huh?" she said, and Leah nodded sagely. "I should have known you guys were werewolves form the start. You all act like it at least," Bella joked, and smiled feebly to cover her brief moment of panic at the idea that the Cullens had been found out. She actually laughed when Jake and the other boys played along so well.

"Leah, shut the fuck up!" Embry growled.

"Seriously, Leah, knock it off!" Jake barked, and Leah put her hands up defensively.

"Alright, alright. Down boys," Leah rolled her eyes and crossed her legs primly.

There was a moment of silence in which Embry and Quil stared at Leah, faking disbelief at her revealing their supposed secret that they were all werewolves, and Jake glowered furiously to keep up the charade.

It was really funny, actually. Them being werewolves would actually explain the animosity pretty well, considering the Cullens really were vampires.

But still, Bella needed to talk to Leah. And she took the silence as a chance to do what she'd really come over to do.

"Uh hey, Leah. I was actually wanting to talk to you for a second," she said slowly. "Like…Alone."

At this, they gave up the joke, and Embry and Quil broke into twin smirks.

"Ohh, maybe she _is_ into you, Lee Lee," Embry said.

"If you two make out, can we watch?" said Quil.

"What did I tell you about calling me that?" Leah growled, and kicked their seats again. They both rocked to keep their balance, and Jake remained silent. "Beat it, all of you. Go sit somewhere else for once."

"Aw, come on Lee Lee. We just want to see you guys kiss. Just once?"

"I said beat it!"

Embry and Quil both laughed but stood up as Leah took a swipe at their heads, barely missing.

"You too, Jake," Leah added, when he made no move to get up.

Bella was confused as she realized Jake was still glaring at her. He finally got up, however, and walked after his two retreating friends. Shaking it off, she turned back to Leah and felt anxiety stir in her at what she was about to have to do.

"Sorry about them," Leah sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "They're a handful. Not unlike your friends, really. You can sit down though. I won't bite, promise."

_I might_, Bella's subconscious twittered immaturely, and she mentally slapped herself over the head for thinking it.

She sat down in the vacant chair next to Leah, and turned to face her. She took a deep breath, trying to steel herself.

_God, why did I have to say yes? Now I'm going to have to hurt her feelings. I'm such a dick. Stupid word vomit_, she thought, and hesitated. Leah noticed.

"What's up Izzy?" Leah inquired, softening with a mild bit of concern.

That only made Bella feel worse, and she smothered the guilt building inside her. It had to be done.

"Uh…Well…You see…"

Leah was staring at her with her usually hard, mysterious eyes all gentle and she was waiting patiently for Bella to spit it out, and all this was only making it so much harder. This would be so much easier if Leah wasn't such a good friend.

"Er-Okay, look. You know how we're supposed to go see a movie tomorrow?" Bella finally got out, and Leah nodded wordlessly. Bella didn't miss the way she shifted though, apprehension appearing on her face.

"Well…"

_Say it. Just say it. Spit it out. Stop drawing it out. You're only making it worse_, she told herself, and finally just blurted it.

She really needed to work on that.

"We can't," Bella said anxiously, and winced when Leah tensed, frowning.

"And why is that?" Leah inquired quietly, folding her arms slowly.

They had not been friends for very long, but Bella still sensed the way that even if Leah wasn't visibly upset by this, she could see it in the downturn of her lips, and the way her brow furrowed, the way her shoulders drew up slightly.

She felt a Dobby like need to take the tray of food Quil had left behind and smash it over her head for hurting Leah like this. Why did she have to speak without thinking sometimes? It would have been so much easier to just turn Leah down in the first place than do it now. This was going to hurt twice as bad as that would have.

But Bella really hated hurting people's feelings. She really hadn't meant to do it. And she'd been so focused on Alice at the time, that she didn't think it through.

"We just…Look, I think I've been giving you the wrong idea about how I feel about you," Bella mumbled.

Leah didn't say anything, just stared at her, through her. Bella could see the way her arms flexed, and felt worse and worse with every passing moment.

"I shouldn't have-I shouldn't have said yes. I mean I shouldn't have made it seem like I wanted to try…Dating you. Don't get me wrong," she said quickly when Leah tensed at that. "I think you're awesome and I love being friends with you but-"

"So you said yes out of _pity_?" Leah spat, finally giving away a hint of how she really felt.

Bella winced at the offense in her voice, and rushed to do damage control.

"_No_, it wasn't out of pity. I was just really confused at the time, but I'm not anymore. I just-Leah, I really do like you. Just not like that. I'm sorry," Bella said helplessly, and Leah drew back, still scowling but not looking as indignant.

She still looked unhappy, and Bella felt so horrible, but there was nothing to be done for it.

"Okay…Fine. That's fine. I told you I don't care either way. It doesn't have to be a date. It wasn't even really in the first place. We can go as just friends. It's no big deal, Izzy," Leah sighed. "I'll admit I'm kinda disappointed, but it's fine."

Bella bit the inside of her lip, and wondered how it was possible for her to feel worse than she already did. But she'd promised Alice, and knew that it would be better to just get this all out in the open now.

"Actually…I don't think we should go at all…At least not this time. Maybe some other time," Bella squirmed as Leah's eyes whipped back on to her again. "I just don't want to lead you on-Or have anyone get the wrong idea about it."

Like Alice.

Leah, however, did not take well to this. Her lips thinned out, and she actually glared at Bella, her eyes narrowing as the brunette fiddled with a loose thread on her shirt nervously.

"So what, we can't even go as friends now? You don't want to _lead me on_?" Leah scoffed, and as Bella sat in front of her, some-fucking-how, the Quileute girl figured it out.

"This is because of _Alice_, isn't it?" she spat.

Bella looked up in alarm, and that gave her away more than words could. At the look on her face, Leah abruptly stood up, her shoulders drawing together.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Leah snapped and clenched her fists. Bella could see now that a hint really was all she'd gotten before.

Leah was _pissed_. She was really, really mad. For a split second, Bella swore she saw the girl's almond eyes flash yellow, and not for the first time.

_Whoa_, Bella thought, and hesitated. Was it really the light playing tricks, or did Leah's eyes really just change color? Surely she was imagining things.

"Leah," she tried, and stood as well. She was uncomfortable as she felt people starting to stare.

Leah had been taking it fairly well up until she realized it was Alice that was the reason behind it all.

"Don't. You think I need your pity party, Swan? Because I don't," Leah ground out through clenched teeth, clearly uncaring about anyone watching them.

"That's not-"

"Stop feeling sorry for me, god damn it, because _I don't care_! I should be the one feeling sorry for _you_. You're the one in love with a filthy _bloodsucker_!"

Bella froze, eyes widening.

Bloodsucker?

_Does she…Was she being serious? Does she really know they're vampires?_

"And she's a _whore_. What ever happened to the blond guy, huh? She finally get tired of boys and wanted to try her hand at girls?"

At this, however, Bella felt her own ire flare. That was seriously out of line and completely uncalled for! Why was Leah being this way? She had thought the girl was cool, but apparently not.

"Alice is _not_ a whore. Don't you dare call her that!" Bella shot back, her own fists tightening. "I get that you're upset and you have a right to be but you have no right to-"

Something inside Leah seemed to snap tight like a rubber band, and without warning, the girl lunged to the side and flung Quil's abandoned tray off the table, sending it flying across the room and food everywhere. It clanged when it hit the floor, and several people looked up in surprise.

Bella jumped back in shock with a yelp as a stray carton of milk splattered across the sleeve of her jacket.

Talk about over-freakin'-reacting!

"What the _hell_?" Bella gasped, and then stiffened when she looked up and saw Leah less than foot away.

_Jesus. _

Leah's whole face was screwed up with _rage_, and this time, there was no mistaking it. Her eyes were yellow, a noxious, luminous shade that seemed to _glow_. Her chest heaved. Her upper lip was curled back, and she was snarling. Her teeth were bright white.

"Leah," Bella breathed, her voice small.

Leah looked _scary_, almost like an infuriated vampire. Her whole body seemed to be shaking, and her skin seemed to almost crawl.

Suddenly, Jake was there.

"Leah, go," Jake commanded and stepped between them, having approached so fast that Bella didn't even hear him coming. His massive form blocked Leah from view. "Leah, _cool_ it. Let's _go_."

Bella watched in astonishment as Jake grabbed Leah by the arm and began to drag her. He got less than a few feet before Leah ripped her arm out of his hand and stormed away from him, not even deigning to look back at Bella as she did. Everyone in the cafeteria watched them go, most of all Bella.

The bell rang as soon as the doors slammed shut behind them, and conversation finally resumed, if a bit hushed, as people stood to leave.

_What the hell was that?_ Bella wondered, heart racing. She saw Edward coming towards her, and Rosalie and Emmett were standing.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked her quietly, his eyes dark and worried as he reached her, and people whispered around them.

"Yeah I…I think so. Jeez," Bella muttered, and glanced down at her jacket to see it was practically soaking through the sleeve. "What was _that_?"

"We've told you they're not good company to keep, Bella," Edward admonished, which was more than annoying. She chose to ignore that.

"That was crazy. Edward, she called you guys _bloodsuckers_. And earlier she was joking about you guys being vampires…It sounds like she _knows_," Bella whispered anxiously to him, but Edward only took on his usual brooding face.

But how could Leah possibly know what they were? And what was up with her _eyes_?

"You should go to the bathroom and wash that out before it sets. It will smell awful later," Edward said, and gently began to lead her by the shoulder towards the exit.

Bewildered, Bella stared at him as she walked.

"Did you not hear me? I said-"

"I heard you Bella. Now is not the time for this conversation," Edward murmured, and Bella abruptly shut her mouth. There were many people staring and whispering behind their hands, and she knew that he was right. Still, he didn't sound nearly concerned enough.

Numbly, she let him guide her out into the hallway and towards the nearest bathroom, where he separated from her.

"Go, wash your jacket. I'm going to go find Alice. If she finds out from anyone else, she'll be on the warpath," Edward told her. "If she hasn't seen it already in her visions."

Leah had just blown an absolute gasket. That was ridiculous! Sure, Bella had expected her to be upset, and maybe her anger was partially justified, but not to _that_ extent. Hopefully Alice hadn't seen yet, because she was almost afraid of what her very protective girlfriend would do in retaliation.

Like kill Leah. That was actually a very real possibility.

Bella obeyed, not knowing what else to do anyway, and still trying to process what had happened. She walked into the bathroom.

Too bad she was about to get a whole lot more to process.

She froze as she saw Cassie, Sophie, and Lauren all standing in front of the mirrors, adjusting their hair and reapplying make up like they always did between classes.

_Awesome_, Bella thought, grimacing as they all glanced over at the sound of the door opening and saw her standing there, shrugging out of her jacket.

For a brief moment, Bella considered just walking back out to avoid dealing with the inevitable drama they would try and start, but then she stopped.

_Why the hell should I? I'm not afraid of them. If I walk away now though, it will look like I am. And I'm not ruining this jacket because of these girls. Fuck that. I'm not going to turn tail and run from them. No way. I'm tired of dealing with this crap. Like I don't have enough on my plate. Cassie is nothing compared to what just happened._

Maybe it was her lingering anger over Leah's reaction, the way she'd acted. Maybe it was because Bella was just plain tired of everything in general, especially having to put her head down and deal with all the insults. Whatever it was, instead of walking away, she squared her shoulders and walked over to the farthest sink on the wall, ignoring the sets of eyes judging her every step of the way.

Part of her hoped they wouldn't say anything, but that was a desperate wish, because of course they wouldn't, especially after witnessing Leah's blow out.

"Well, well, well, look who it is girls," Cassie sneered, fluffing her hair as Sophie smirked and smeared lip gloss onto her lips. "Sorry, Swan, did you not see the sign on the door? This is the girl's bathroom. The boy's one is across the hallway."

Bella grit her teeth and bit back her retort as she shoved the sleeve of her jacket into the sink and began running hot water over it.

_Ignore them. Just ignore them. That's what mom and dad always said, right? Ignore her and she'll go away. Girls like Cassie just want a reaction_, _so don't give her one_, she told herself, hating the way her face heated up when Sophie and Lauren snickered.

Turns out girls like Cassie were not the type to give up that easily, though.

"Where's your girlfriend, butch?" Cassie continued as she stepped away from the mirror and shrugged her purse onto her shoulder, eyes glinting maliciously. "Is she not going to come in here and leave a few more hickeys on your neck? Or is your girlfriend Leah now instead of Alice? I guess I should say was, though. It sure looks like you two just broke up."

Bella tensed at that, glancing at Cassie out of the corner of her eye.

_You eavesdropping bitch_, Bella thought, chewing on the inside of her cheek and feeling her blush coming back.

"That's right. Me and Lauren heard you and your little friends having your disgusting pornographic discussions about you and your precious _Alice_," Cassie snarked, folding her arms and sneering. Lauren and Sophie's expression matched hers eerily well, almost like they practiced it in the mirror together.

Alice's name in Cassie's mouth never failed to crank Bella's annoyance to flat out anger faster than anything else. She clenched her fists, biting hard on her bottom lip to stop the slew of insults itching to come pouring out of her mouth.

Now was _really_ not the time to fuck with her. She was already in a hellacious mood over having to hurt Leah and then deal with the craziness that was her reaction, and she was afraid Leah knew about vampires, and…

_She's not worth it_, Bella reminded herself. _She's not worth it. Don't say a word. She wants you to get mad. Don't give her what she wants. Don't do it. Just ignore her and she'll get bored._

Usually Bella never even got mad when Cassie really started in, just embarrassed, mostly because she always made fun of her in front of other people. But it had been a while since the girl had been so blatant and outright about her homophobia, and Bella's usual hurt feelings and mild annoyance were not showing themselves.

She was starting to get really _pissed_ _off_.

Why the hell did Cassie have to do this? Right _now_, right after that? Bella's bad mood worsened inexorably. What was her problem, anyway? She knew they were terrible people, but surely she must have done something to pull Cassie's wrath so fully down on herself.

It couldn't just be the gay thing. Cassie would have gotten bored with that long ago, and moved on to someone more interesting to torment.

No, if the girl was this relentless, there was a better reason for it. What _was_ it though?

And Bella remembered with a start, how Alice had spited Cassie, made her look stupid in front of a hallway full of people when the vampire blocked her access to the bathroom in protection of Bella. And then Rosalie had made her look twice as stupid in front of a whole cafeteria when they started in again.

Cassie was the kind of girl to hold a grudge for something like that. It didn't take much to invoke the ire of an insecure girl like her, and something as big as embarrassing her in front of half the school was sure to do it.

That wasn't even her fault though! For one Cassie started it in the first place, and Rosalie was the one who finished it!

Now Bella was paying the price for it, and god damn it, she really was _not_ in the mood for this crap. She was tired of everything going on with the Volturi, with her bite, with Alice, with Leah, and most certainly was not interested in this petty high school drama.

"Nobody wants to hear about one of her many slutty sexcapades, especially when they're including someone like _you_, Swan," Cassie continued.

Bella felt the vein in her temple pulse and she took a deep breath, having had _enough_ of this shit.

How _dare_ she call Alice a slut, even indirectly? Who did she think she _was_? What a filthy hypocrite! Why did everyone feel this inexplicable urge to go after Alice when they were trying to hurt her?

No.

Forget that.

"Cassie, I don't know why _you_ of all people are acting so bothered by pornographic discussions," Bella snapped, abruptly standing up straight and wringing her jacket out, the stain fairly faded at this point. "Isn't that what you want to major in anyway? Being a porn star? I don't know about the star part though," she added, whipping her angry eyes onto Cassie as her stomach tightened with confrontation.

The shock on all of their faces was completely worth it when the sneer dropped off of Cassie's face so fast it might never have been there in the first place.

Okay.

_That_ felt good.

Giving Cassie back some of her own medicine sent a slight thrill through Bella and she smirked as all three girls glared at her when she turned to face them fully, tilting her chin up defiantly.

Bella was not the type of person to shit talk or even insult people, even when they were insulting her like Cassie was. She didn't like arguing with people, or trying to hurt them. She preferred to take the high road, turn the other cheek, and be the bigger man so to speak. She preferred to try and be mature about things rather than sink to someone else's level.

But _damn_ it, she was tired of taking it from them!

She had to deal with vampires going for her jugular, had to deal with all of the Volturi and Victoria, with whatever was going on with Leah, so why did she _still_ have take even more shit from Cassie?

The answer to that was that she _didn't_.

"I'd rather be a porn star than a _dyke_ any day, Swan!" Cassie snarled, eyes flashing as Bella actually fired back at her for once.

Bella felt her grin drop off, the word Cassie had spat at her a hundred times before still making her flinch like it always did. It was such a cruel, derogatory term, and if Cassie was good at nothing else, she was good at putting so much scorn in her words that even if Bella didn't care about what she thought, it still hurt.

She swallowed hard, seething as Cassie noted the pained expression and her sneer came right back as she once more got the upper hand. Sophie and Lauren stood on either side of her, all of them staring at her with such hateful gazes that for once, did not make Bella want to roll her eyes, but made her bristle furiously.

"Well, that's good, Cassie. Because that's exactly where you're headed. High school was really just practice for you wasn't it?" Bella rolled her eyes, and decided she was done with this.

She needed to go find Alice, and fall into her arms, and find comfort.

She didn't have the time to do this, and she most certainly was not in the mood for it. So she clenched her dripping jacket in one hand and made to blow past them, shoulders hunched and wrestling the building anger inside her.

It didn't work.

As Bella tried to step past the three girls, Cassie _pushed_ her.

Stunned, Bella stumbled back a step, heart jumping in shock.

"Where do you think _you're_ going, you freak?" Cassie scowled, and they all crossed their arms and closed ranks, blocking the way past. "Who do you think you are, talking to me like that when you're nothing but a filthy lesbian?"

Bella stared in disbelief, eyes wide.

Did she really just…?

Cassie had said some terrible things to her, had done her best to verbally destroy Bella every chance she got, but _never_ had she gotten physical. Bella couldn't believe for a moment that the girl really had the gall to put her hands on her, was really doing this.

She suddenly felt trapped as she stared at them, blocked in, unable to leave, cornered in this bathroom by these three girls who had nothing but negative and apparently _violent_ intentions.

_I am _done_ being bullied!_

The quiet rage that had been building inside her swelled to a sudden fury, from the knot in her stomach to a hot blossom in her chest, and just like that, Bella snapped.

"_Fuck_ you!" Bella shouted as she dropped her jacket, lunged forward, and shoved Cassie with everything she had.

The surprise on their faces probably matched hers from before perfectly, but Bella wasn't done yet. As Cassie yelped and staggered back, Bella was already in her face, voice rising faster than it ever had before.

"Are you fucking _serious_ right now, Streeter? My name is _Bella_, not _dyke_, or whatever stupid insult you can come up with in your tiny brain. But you better get this real fucking quick. I have _had_ it with your shit. I'm _done_, do you hear me? You can say what you want about me, I don't care anymore. Run your mouth all day, go right ahead. But you keep Alice's name out of your nasty mouth, and you sure as hell keep your hands _off_ of me. You can talk all day, but you will not _touch_ me. I may be a lesbian, and a lot of other things you don't quite like, but I am _done_ being bullied by you for it. I am _no_body's _VICTIM_!"

Bella's chest was heaving when her last word rang out and she realized that her fists were clenched so tightly that her nails were cutting into her palms.

She looked right into Cassie's eyes, angrier than anything she had ever been in her life. Her whole body buzzed with it, and for a tiny second, she actually considered punching Cassie right in her stupid face, but she stopped herself when she really looked at the girl before her.

Cassie wasn't yelling back, or posturing up, or anything else.

Cassie was _scared_.

Or nervous, at the very least.

Cassie was squirming in front of her, having finally regained her balance, and she was barely meeting Bella's eyes. She shifted when Bella's arm twitched as if to take a swing, and Bella found herself again as she recognized the emotion on the girl's face.

For all her talk, Cassie was nothing more than a scared little girl when things got real.

Bella drew back, breathing hard and struggling to quell the pounding anger in the back of her skull. She took a heavy breath and looked over her shoulder to see Sophie and Lauren all tensed up, their eyes flickering from Bella's face down to her clenched fists, as if waiting for the inevitable assault.

Bella slumped, shaking her head both at all of them and at herself.

_This isn't me. I'm not…I won't hit her. Even if she deserves it. Even if I want to. Calm down, Bella. She's not worth it. Just…Walk away. You said what you needed to, and I think she gets it. So just leave now before you do something you'll regret. She's not worth it…_

Blowing off steam on Cassie turned out to be just what she needed to get herself together.

With one last final, pointed glare at the bitch, Bella brushed past her, jacket forgotten on the floor as she shook slightly, wound up so tightly, unused to being so pissed off for any reason. She didn't feel bad particularly for frightening Cassie. In fact, it felt great to know that she could back the girl down, but…

But she did not want to fight her. She didn't want to physically hurt anybody. Violence was not what she believed in. She just wanted them to leave her alone. She had way more important things to deal with anyway.

_That's not who I am_, she thought as she reached for the door. _It's just not._

"You sick_ freak_!"

Bella flinched as she slammed practically face first into the door when Cassie suddenly shoved her from behind, apparently much more courageous when her opponent's back was turned.

That may not have been who she was.

And Cassie may not have been worth it.

But Bella still turned around and socked her right in the mouth.

Cassie hit the floor butt first and squealing. Sophie and Lauren shrieked and dropped down next to her.

Bella stood still, chest heaving and eyes blazing. Adrenaline pumped through her, and everything inside her screamed for her to lunge forward and keep swinging, but there was no point.

Cassie was down and out from one blow.

"You bitch!" Cassie cried, cradling her mouth. Tears streamed down her face.

"Look at her lip! She's bleeding!" Lauren gasped.

"You'll pay for this Swan!" Sophie snarled, glaring at her as Cassie began to _bawl_, rocking and backing forth as a trickle of blood rolled down her chin.

_Are you freaking serious? _Bella stared in wonderment, eyes wide and the mad desire to hit something going out of her as Cassie sobbed and sobbed.

Wow…Just wow.

Bella didn't even know how to fight, they outnumbered her three to one, Cassie probably had her by an inch and twenty pounds, and to be quite frank, the fact that she'd drawn blood with that wildly thrown, blindly swung punch was astounding.

But none of them made a move to retaliate.

"You…" she breathed. "You're pathetic," Bella realized as she stared down on them.

"Fuck you!" Cassie whimpered, but made no move to stand or get up and hit her back.

"You're all _pathetic_. Every single one of you," Bella shook her head in disgust, and with that, she turned and walked out of the bathroom.

Nobody tried to stop her.

No one got up and tried to fight her.

No one did a thing.

So Bella just walked away.

* * *

_**See, Bella's got a back bone. She's just the kind of person who needs a lot of provocation to get mad and show people that. Anyway, yeah, not much else to say. Next chapter we're going to see more of Rosalie, which I'm sure some of you are eager for. Can't say when the next update will be though, what with the internet issues. Sorry guys. Much love for the love though. **_


	19. Chapter 19

_**Alright, sorry this one took so long. My internet issues are fixed, but school started back, so yeah, that's why it's taken me so long. This is why I wanted to finish it before the break was over. I'm just not even going to address the bullshit length which I clearly have no control over. **_

_**Anywho, hope you guys like it. **_

* * *

The adrenaline high wore off five minutes later, and left Bella shaky and worried instead of enraged and powerful.

Yet surprisingly, she did not see Alice for the rest of the day. It was disconcerting, really. She half expected to see Alice the moment she stepped foot outside the bathroom, just because of the girl's incredible knack to show up out of the blue when Bella was in trouble.

Not that she was actually in trouble. Cassie was down and out, and no threat, as she'd come to find out.

Still. The principle of the matter remained. Whenever Bella experienced anything even remotely violent in nature, Alice was bound to appear at her side. This time she didn't, and at the very least Bella expected to see her girl at some point during the day and talk to her about all of it, but…

Nope.

Alice was not in any of the remaining classes they had together, and after questioning Edward, he told her the pixie had gone home. Bewildered and slightly wounded, she asked why and if Alice knew about her altercation with Cassie. Of course Edward knew already after picking it up from her prominent thoughts, and he wholeheartedly disapproved and tried to tell her that so repeatedly that she almost hit him too, but eventually he told her that he didn't know.

Apparently after he told Alice about her altercation with _Leah_, both Emmett and Rosalie had to drag her off campus to keep her from seeking the Quileute girl out to pulverize her.

That soothed most of Bella's worries, but she still wished Alice were there instead. She desperately wanted to talk about what Leah had told her, and figure out if the girl really genuinely knew that they were vampires, and ask what the hell was up with the La Push girl's eyes.

Leah had called them all _werewolves_…Or shape shifters. Something like that. Bella had thought they'd been joking, but now she wasn't so sure. Naturally she tried to tell herself that werewolves couldn't possibly exist, but then she remembered she'd thought the same thing about vampires, so she refused to rule anything out, especially because it seemed to fit so well.

Jake, Embry, and Quil had all seemed pretty pissed with her for bringing it up, and her eyes kept flashing that bright yellow, and when she got mad she really got _mad_, as if any second she might explode. '

Possibly into a wolf.

Badgering Edward about it got her nothing but his brooding look, which annoyed her to no end. She got the same result from Emmett, and knew better than to bother with Rosalie. Eventually she gave up and worried more about whether or not she was going to be busted for busting Cassie.

She spent the rest of the day bouncing her knee and cradling her bruised hand, waiting for the inevitable moment for the principal or someone to yank her out of class and give her the obligatory suspension for fighting, but it never happened, which boggled her mind.

Cassie must be keeping it on the down low, for whatever reason. Probably so she could plot her revenge…And it must be so embarrassing for her to tell anyone that the lesbo freak she was always picking on had bloodied her lip and made her cry like a little girl.

Damn, as bad as a tiny part of Bella felt about it, she had to admit.

Putting Cassie on her ass was _so_ satisfying.

So all she could really do was wonder how Cassie was going to deal with her busted lip, if she was going to get in trouble, werewolves, vampires, and always, always Alice.

When the bell rang, Bella was the first one out the door, and she was already hitting the speed dial for Alice's number when she trotted out of the school, eager to hear her voice. It was still ringing when she walked into the parking lot and saw Alice reclined against her car, waiting for her.

Despite everything, Bella smiled when she saw her. Alice was draped in a stylish white leather jacket with complementary blue leather riding gloves, leaned back against her yellow Lamborghini and looking so out of place in dreary Forks, Washington. But when she saw Bella, she lit up, and it was all the brunette could do to keep from bolting across the parking lot like an idiot to her.

She settled for a fast walk, and the first thing Alice did when she reached her was to pull her into a tight hug and squeeze her close. All the worries of the day melted away the moment she inhaled Alice's scent and hugged her neck, swaying slightly as the vampire nuzzled her affectionately.

"Rough day?" Alice said when they broke apart, both of them ignoring the familiar stares of their peers.

"You have no idea," Bella replied, basking in Alice's deep golden gaze. She looked as if she'd fed quite recently, and it only made her eyes look bigger and brighter.

"I think I have an idea at the very least," Alice frowned, and Bella noticed the tension in her shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess you do," Bella amended, and shrugged her backpack higher on her shoulder as Alice stared into her eyes with a hard look. Clearly her break from the school day hadn't done much for her anger over Leah, and Bella wisely decided not to bring that up first thing.

She debated bringing up Cassie too, but decided that she really didn't want to get into the heavy stuff and ruin the slight mood elevator seeing Alice had given her. There would be time for that later. It could at least wait until they got home.

"So where did you run off to?" she inquired instead.

"To blow off some steam," Alice shrugged noncommittally, though Bella easily read the fierce protectiveness brooding beneath the surfaces of her irises. "Rose and Emmett wouldn't let me kill Leah, so I found something else to kill."

This confirmed her theory that Alice had been hunting recently, but Bella shifted uncertainly on her feet at the way she put it, and Alice winced at her own lack of tact.

"Oh, wow. Sorry, that came out really morbid," the vampire winced, but Bella shrugged it off.

It was not like Alice to say things like that, but the girl's instincts must have been sorely tested at this point.

"It's no biggie. I'm just glad you didn't really murder her. That definitely wouldn't have been good," Bella said. "And that you didn't completely ditch me and leave me without a ride."

"As if I would ever!" Alice scoffed, and Bella couldn't help but grin at the offense in her tone.

Okay, yes, Leah had blown up on her today and put worries in her head about werewolves and vampires and all that nonsensical nonsense, and she'd technically gotten into a fist fight (beat down), but…

When it came to Alice, somehow, she always felt better.

"Good. Because Emmett still hasn't fixed my baby," Bella reminded her playfully, but Alice pouted.

"I know! He's taking forever. I'm sorry," Alice groaned, and Bella just chuckled at the undying remorse Alice felt for damaging her truck so badly. It had been quite some time since her truck had disappeared into the depths of the Cullen garage, and Alice had been giving her a ride to school ever since. Even Charlie couldn't believe that the Cullen boy was still 'fine tuning' it forever, as she'd used as an excuse when her father began questioning her about where her vehicle was.

"And hey, I thought I was your baby now," Alice added, her pout slipping into genuine puppy dog eyes that Bella was absolutely helpless to.

It was ridiculous really, how quickly she melted at that look.

Gosh, Alice was so _cute_. And Alice wanting to be her baby made her heart flutter. What was she so stressed about again?

"Oh right, sorry. Of course you're my baby Alice," Bella grinned, and laughed when the girl beamed.

"Damn right I am."

"Don't tell me you're getting jealous of my truck now, too," Bella rolled her eyes jokingly, and Alice glared at her.

"I'm so _not_."

Bella stared at her, and Alice shifted, avoiding her eyes.

"Alright. Maybe just a little," Alice acquiesced, and giggled when Bella laughed again. "I can't help it though! Even without my instincts, I'm crazy about you, baby doll."

_Baby doll. _

Bella fought not to swoon at the pet name. She never thought she'd be the kind of girl who got all mushy over pet names, but here she was, blushing about it like wild.

"I thought you didn't like that word," Bella tilted her head, and Alice paused for a moment.

"I don't. But when it comes to you, it's true," the pixie shrugged slightly, and Bella softened.

"You don't have to be Alice. No one means more to me than you. I'm yours," Bella told her honestly. Alice's expression shifted to match hers, and they shared a tender smile.

"You're mine. And I'm yours," Alice echoed.

There was a heavy pause, and then without thinking about it, they both leaned forward. Bella remembered at the last second that they were at school, in a crowded parking lot, surrounded by their peers.

And also realized that she didn't care.

The kiss was short and sweet, but it still left her lips tingling and her heart racing when Alice rocked back on her toes. Her hand flew to her mouth.

"Oh my gosh, Bells, I'm so sorry. I forgot-I didn't mean to-"

Bella looked around and saw only a few people glancing over at them, and she was happily surprised to find how much she really just didn't _give_ a fuck anymore.

After today, with everything with Leah and Cassie, she just _couldn't_ care.

_Let them look_, she thought. _Let them see. I don't care anymore. I love __A__lice, she loves me, and I don't give a damn what anyone else thinks anymore. They don't matter. No one else matters but her. And damn it, if I want to kiss my girlfriend, I'm going to do it. I didn't punch Cassie for nothing. So there._

"It's fine Alice. Forget them. I don't care," Bella declared. Alice's eyebrows rose, and she hesitated before a wide smile crossed her face.

"Yeah?" she said.

"Yeah," Bella grinned.

"You're sure?"

"Completely."

"And what about her?" Alice said in a hard voice, and jerked her head to the side. Bella looked over to see Leah staring at them from across the parking lot, too far away for her facial expression to be read.

Bella hesitated, and then she just sighed.

"I don't care about her either, Alice. She acted like a total bitch, and that's not cool. So fuck Leah," Bella stated with total conviction, refusing to feel even slightly bad that Leah might have seen them kiss.

That's what she got for acting like that. Flinging food everywhere, soaking Bella's jacket with milk. If it had not been for her immature hissy fit, Bella wouldn't have even gone into the bathroom and met up with Cassie. Plus, she called Alice a slut. So yeah. Leah could piss right off. She may have seemed cool, but Bella was starting to see that she had a serious temper issue, and overstepped her boundaries.

"Good," Alice smiled a little though it didn't reach her eyes, and then gestured to her car. "We should probably get going. Esme is taking everyone out for a while, but I passed, so we'll have the house to ourselves. We still have a lot to talk about."

Bella nodded, and they both got into the car. Before they pulled out of the parking lot, Alice dotted a kiss to her cheek, and somehow that tiny gesture of affection wiped away any trace of her bad mood, and they held hands the whole way to the Cullen household.

* * *

"And I swear to God if Leah ever so much as blinks in your general direction again, I'm going to _hurt_ her."

Bella stared at Alice from her reclined position on Alice's bed, amused and bemused as the vampire paced back and forth next to her, still going on and on about all the ways and reasons she wanted to 'hurt' Leah Clearwater. Her instincts were clearly flaring back up.

This had been going on since they walked in the door, about twenty minutes ago. As funny, heartwarming and sexy as it was to see Alice huff and puff over her with protectiveness and possessiveness, it was starting to get a little ridiculous.

"God, she's such a bitch, reacting like that, as if she had any right to-"

Bella bounced her knee, only half listening, mostly watching the way Alice bristled as her eyes sparkled passionately. Outside it was thundering and raining as it usually did in Forks, but Bella still felt all warm and fuzzy as she watched her tiny yet not so harmless girlfriend growl and grumble.

"Alice!" she finally interrupted when the pixie opened her mouth to continue.

The vampire stopped mid stride.

"Stop it. You're going to wear a trench in your floor. Come over here and sit down," Bella commanded, stifling her grin at the glower on Alice's face. It would not do for Alice to see how cute Bella thought she was when she was all worked up.

"Fine," Alice huffed.

_So cute._

The vampire walked over and plopped down unceremoniously in her lap, making Bella yelp and sit up abruptly as Alice snickered at her. She recovered quickly, then eagerly wrapped her arms around the girl and dotted a soothing kiss to her cheek, disliking the tension she could still feel in Alice's muscles. It took two more before Alice relaxed, and turned to catch the third kiss with her lips.

As many times as they'd kissed, it still sent Bella soaring every time. As hard and eventful as the day had been, somehow Alice managed to make it all better, even when she hadn't really done anything to do so.

"Relax. It's okay. I'm okay, Alice. That's not even the worst of what happened to me today," Bella told her, rubbing absentmindedly at the vampire's hip.

Then she froze, realizing her slip up.

_Crap. Does she know about Cassie or not? Edward never found out. I wanted to break that too her easier…_

"No, I suppose it's not," Alice replied softly, and caught the hand on her hip. Bella blinked as Alice pulled her hand up between them and gazed down on the slight discoloration of her knuckles with knowing eyes.

Uh oh.

Those were Alice's worried eyes, which pointed in the direction of a yes, she did know.

"You-Do you know about what happened with me and Cassie?" she asked uncertainly, deciding to just go for it, and Alice sighed.

"Yes," she said simply, and Bella bit her bottom lip when Alice brought her hand up to her mouth and softly brushed her lips over the bruise on her hand. Her lips were cool and Bella fell for her just a little more at the tender gesture.

"How? You left before that. And you don't sound very upset," Bella pointed out.

"I saw it in my visions when I was being dragged away," Alice admitted. "I almost made a scene trying to get away from Rose and Emmett."

Ah. So she'd had a little time to come to terms with Bella being physically attacked. Still, she'd been expecting a more angry reaction than that, considering Alice's track record.

"Oh," Bella said, and blushed when Alice shifted on her lap and turned to straddle her, facing her fully.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Alice murmured, cupping her face gently. "But…Would it be very terrible of me to say that I'm kind of glad it happened?"

_Huh? _

This was a total 180 from the murderous intentions Alice had displayed over Leah, and Leah hadn't even hit her.

Just got her soaked in milk and talked some shit, which was annoying at the most.

"You're glad I punched Cassie Streeter?" Bella cocked her head in confusion, trying to focus with Alice's thumbs tracing figure eight patterns on her cheekbones.

"Yes," Alice replied. "I know that sounds awful. Don't get me wrong, I hate that she put her hands on you or dared say such horrible things to you, and I wish you didn't have to but…It was kind of a good thing, wasn't it? She deserved it, and she needed it. It showed her you're not one to be messed with, and by the way, I'm very impressed by that right straight of yours."

"I guess," Bella said skeptically, but couldn't help but preen at Alice's compliment, which Alice of course noticed. She smirked a little before growing serious again.

"What I'm trying to say is, as much as it makes me want to rip her head off, I'm glad that you stood up for yourself. Naturally I want to fight all your battles for you, Bells, and I never want you to get hurt. But there are some things we just have to do for ourselves. This was one of yours."

_Oh. I guess that makes sense_. Bella hadn't thought about it in that light before.

"Not to mention the way it's made you stand with your chin a little higher," Alice went on, dropping her hands to Bella's shoulders to rub at them, which made her eyes droop in contentment and delight.

Magic hands, those were.

"You're stronger for this. I can see it. And you definitely showed it when you weren't afraid to kiss me in the parking lot. So as much as the vampire in me would prefer Cassie six feet under for touching you, I'm proud of you. I feel like it was a good thing."

"I understand you," Bella murmured, lowering her hands to Alice's waist and leaning back into the headboard to enjoy the pseudo massage Alice was giving her shoulders. She partly comprehended what Alice was actually saying, and partly just enjoyed the sound of her voice, the feel of her company, her presence.

Love, is what is was, simple as that. How could she not have known from the beginning that this was what it was?

"Leah, on the other hand," Alice's voice hardened, and Bella snorted, rolling her eyes and smiling. "Is an entirely different story. She's a whole lot more dangerous than Cassie Streeter, and if she had actually put her hands on you..."

Bella shivered at the way Alice growled quietly and trailed away, clearly still pissed about it. The pixie's hands tightened slightly on the muscles connecting her shoulders to her neck and Bella tensed, enjoying the sensation.

If Alice didn't stop touching her soon, she was going to lose the ability to converse.

_A whole lot more dangerous?_ She wondered though. _And could that be…Because she's a werewolf? That still sounds completely crazy though. But so did vampires…And now I'm dating one. Ugh, this is stupid. I should just ask Alice. But Edward kept shutting me down every time I did…Still, he always does that. _

That was another way Alice and Edward were complete opposites. Edward always tried to 'protect' her by keeping her in the dark, and Alice always gave her everything, refusing to treat her like an incapable child that would somehow be shattered by the truth. It was certainly something Bella appreciated about the girl.

"And why is that?" she probed, though she had that gut feeling that she already knew the answer.

Which was an absolutely terrifying thought.

_If she tells me they're real I'm going to lose freakin' my mind. At least vampires kind of make sense. Werewolves are just flat out ridiculous. _

"Didn't she tell you?" Alice paused, giving her a surprised look. "I could have sworn Edward said she did."

"Uh…"

_She told me something alright. But I can't really believe it,_ Bella thought, and hesitated.

"Bella," Alice said slowly, and sat back on her lap. That look on her face was only confirming what Bella really didn't want to believe. The thought of werewolves being real too was downright frightening.

As if vampires weren't already enough to handle.

Namely Victoria. And the Volturi. Oh, and that minor issue of the girl she'd socked today, Cassie.

The last thing Bella needed was to add Leah to her list of inane, crazy, and downright unreal shit she had to deal with.

"She um-She said something about the Quileutes being…Er…Werewolves?" Bella stuttered, her voice kind of squeaky in disbelief.

There was a heavy pause, and then Alice nodded. Bella's eyes widened and she ran a hand through her hair.

"You're serious?" Bella gawked, feeling a numb sense of shock beat out any sort of denial.

"Unfortunately," Alice sighed.

Bella could only stare, speechless and trying to process.

_She's not messing with me, is she? _

Nope, Alice was not, if the sincere look on her face was anything to go by.

_Holy shit. _

Werewolves were real, too.

Seeing Bella's more than mildly dumbstruck expression, Alice went to elaborate. "Okay, hear me out. I know it sounds crazy, but yes, the Quileutes are a tribe of shape shifters. They're not werewolves in the traditional sense. They're more like…Overgrown dogs. Mutts, really."

"Yeah. That's what Leah said too. Without the mutt part, but…Yeah. Wow," Bella repeated, rubbing at the back of her neck. She did not miss the reoccurring anger in Alice's voice. She wondered if vampires and werewolves actually did have that unexplainable instinctive rivalry, and if that really did explain the hatred between the Cullens and the Quileutes.

Or Alice might just be filled with jealousy.

_Damn…I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but…I mean, damn!_ Bella thought. _First vampires, and now werewolves. What is my life coming to? What's next? Fairies and elves in the woods?_

Alice watched her for a moment, apparently gauging her reaction.

"You seem to be taking this fairly well," she finally commented.

"Yeah, well…If vampires can be real, why not werewolves?" Bella shrugged with much less apathy than she felt. She must have been a better actress than she thought if Alice thought she was taking this well. She was internally freaking out, and struggling to keep her cool.

_Werewolves, tigers, and bears, oh my!_ She thought sarcastically. _Did my parents drop me on my head when I was little or something? Jeez…None of this even seems real. Well, none of it except Alice. _

"Right. Still. This is kind of a big deal. I'm pretty sure you don't actually believe it. You probably won't, either, unless you ever see one of them shift, which I hope to God never happens because they're unpredictable and wild when they do…That's why I'm so _mad_ that she acted like that around you. It would have been seriously bad news if she went _literal_ bitch mode in front of everybody. They're supposed to keep their existence a secret according to their tribe elders as much as we are according to the Volturi, which is why I'm surprised she even told you…"

Alice looked pensive for a moment, before she scowled as Bella continued to silently attempt to process this new information.

It wasn't working. Her brain was having a hard time filing the existence of werewolves in the 'fact' category, considering it'd been in the 'myth' category all her life. She pictured Leah transforming into a massive, snarling, salivating beast, and wrinkled her nose at how unrealistic it seemed. How would that even work?

Alice noticed.

"You still don't really believe it, do you?" Alice chuckled.

"Yes. I mean, sort of," Bella responded uncertainly, brow furrowed, and Alice laughed.

"Well, you always have been pretty good with weird," she said, and Bella couldn't help but smirk, sensing an opportunity despite the seriousness of their current conversation.

"Of course I have. I'd have to be to deal with you, wouldn't I?" the brunette joked, which made Alice's jaw drop.

"You did _not_ just call me weird."

"What else would I call you but the truth?" Bella retorted, which made Alice let out a noise of protest.

"Well, ain't that just the pot calling the kettle black, Ms. Arizona? You still have that cactus collection from back home?" Alice drawled in an exaggerated southern accent, which made Bella laugh.

"No, and they were not a _collection_. They were presents from my mother, and we do not talk like that in Arizona, thank you," Bella snorted.

"Oh, well, exccuuuse me," Alice put her hands up, still keeping up the accent despite. "I guess it's not the cactuses that make you weird. It must just be you being you."

"Yeah right!" Bella giggled, and slapped Alice's arm playfully, which made the vampire smirk.

"_Down_ girl. You're not gonna beat me up too, are ya Tiger?" Alice taunted, which made Bella narrow her eyes at her.

Very slowly, and very deliberately, Bella leaned in and flicked Alice right on the tip of her cute button nose.

The challenge that lit up in the twinkle of those honey colored eyes made Bella's breath hitch.

"Now you've done it," Alice growled, and Bella bit her lip, contemplating if she should start begging for forgiveness.

Alas, it was too late.

Bella shrieked as Alice lunged for her and began to tickle her, fingers darting in between her ribs as she simultaneously blew a raspberry into the side of her neck.

"Oh my god-No, s-stop! _Alice_!" Bella squealed, kicking out as Alice flattened out on top of her and pinned her wrists to the pillows with one hand while mercilessly continuing to tickle her with the other.

"Not so tough now, are ya?" Alice cried over her yelps as Bella writhed beneath her. "You know the magic word! Say it and I'll stop!"

"No!"

"Say it! Say Uncle!"

"_Never_!"

Alice's fingers flew up and down her sides, over her tummy, driving her freaking _nuts_. Bella fought and struggled, but she knew it was useless as she laughed and laughed and laughed.

Suddenly, Bella felt a wicked sense of déjà vu and she gasped as it struck her, an almost physically visual flashback claiming her vision.

_Bella grit her teeth, swearing under what little breath she had left._

_Oh god, she couldn't take it. Alice was going to kill her by tickling._

_She had to do something, anything but say Uncle._

_A spark of insanity flashed inside her head, an instinctive attack that Bella really should have though through a little more. She had no weapons as her nails were obviously useless, digging into the space between Alice's shoulder blades worthlessly._

_So without warning, the brunette sank her teeth __hard__ into the spot where Alice's neck met her shoulder, her teeth scraping along soft skin that was draped over muscle as hard as granite._

"Alice!" Bella gasped for air, arching. "Alice, _please_."

Alice froze at the desperate tone of her voice. Bella's chest heaved as the vampire went still atop her, and the grip on her wrists went slack. It was silent except for sound of the rain outside, as Bella tried to catch her breath, the position so familiar, _too_ familiar.

_This is how it all started_, Bella thought, staring up at the ceiling as Alice slowly drew back and sat up on her lap. _This is how it all began…_

But it wasn't, not really.

Bella shifted on to her elbows, blushing and mildly embarrassed at her outburst as Alice easily picked up on the shift of her mood and the reason for it. Bella could see it on her face, the way Alice was remembering exactly what Bella was remembering.

But she was interpreting it in the entirely wrong way. That wasn't exactly fair though. Bella wasn't sure how to interpret what she was feeling either, but for some reason, it was not a frightened or bad one…In fact, she felt kind of good.

"I'm sorry," Alice whispered, and wrung her hands, staring down at Bella with guilt in her eyes.

"Don't be," Bella said instantly, breathless.

_We didn't start there, when I first bit her_, Bella thought, her heart picking up its pace. _We started the moment we met. We clicked, and the rest was just…Inevitable._

"Did I scare you?" Alice inquired anxiously, sounding far too miserable for Bella's tastes.

"No. Not a bit. You never do. You never have," Bella reassured her quickly and made sure to meet the girl's eyes to really convey the sincerity of it. "I just…It was so…Familiar. Déjà vu, you know?"

"I know," Alice murmured, and Bella sat up with Alice in her lap, trying to ease her breathing as the vampire sighed when their foreheads met. "But it's not. It's different this time…Everything is different now…You know that, right? Because I love you, and I will _never_ lose control like that around you again, I swear."

"I know," Bella murmured, and brushed their noses together, breathing in deeply as she tried to calm down. "I know Alice. You don't know how much I know it. I love you too."

"I just can't stand the thought of you being afraid of me…" Alice whispered.

"Then it's a good thing you're about as scary as a daffodil," Bella teased her softly, and Alice gave her a weak grin.

They were quiet for a long moment, and despite all her efforts, Bella still felt so…Alive. Her heart was pounding from being tickled, from Alice's touch, from the weight of her in her lap. Her belly felt warm and tight, and she knew there was no fear inside her.

She gazed deep into Alice's pupils, lips pursed, and wondered if Alice understood the intensity behind the look the way that Bella felt it deep inside her soul.

"You're not gonna bite me again, are ya Tiger?" Alice whispered against her lips, and smiled so that her nose crinkled and her eyes twinkled.

_So beautiful. She's so beautiful, and so, so…_

Bella shook her head slowly, pulling her lower lip between her teeth when Alice's eyes flickered down to her mouth. She felt a thrill rush up her spine when Alice growled, and moved to lock their lips in what would undoubtedly be a heated kiss that Bella somehow knew would lead to _more_-

A crack of thunder rang out, and with a zip of surging electricity, the power went out, and they were plunged into darkness.

"Son of a bitch!" Bella swore, and flopped back when Alice promptly began giggling at her, the mood dashed.

Even if the mood was killed, Bella could still feel it racing through her. She was turned on, and Alice was so close but always so far, and…

_Damn_ it!

"Well isn't that just completely convenient?" Alice snickered, apparently much less distraught at the interruption of their moment. "Hang on Bells, I've got it."

Bella was more than disappointed when she felt Alice's weight disappear from her lap, and heard the vampire dart throughout the house, presumably in search of a new light source.

_My hormones are getting out of control_, she thought unhappily, uncomfortably aware of the slickness between her thighs._ How does she do this to me? Just from being with me. Nobody ever makes me feel like her, like this…Goddamn, stupid storm. Ugh. Why does it always have to storm in Forks?_

A few moments later, she heard a muffled noise as Alice zipped back into the room. She then watched as one, two, three, then in the blink of an eye a dozen or more candles flickered to life throughout the room as Alice placed and lit them. She watched, impressed, as Alice blurred around, tossed an armful of logs into the fireplace and quickly got them burning.

That was another perk of having richer than rich parents. A huge room, complete with its own fireplace.

In less than thirty seconds, Alice's bedroom was filled with the dim, soft glow from the candles, and the lovely warm saffron firelight that began to radiate out of the fireplace.

"Wow," Bella whistled, flipping right side up and looking over at her girlfriend, who crouched by the fire, stoking it with the poker until it began to crackle and jump higher, till it was a healthy leaping dance of flames. She swallowed and had to physically exert the effort not to stare at the curve of Alice's ass in her designer jeans. "Where did you even find that many candles?"

"We always keep an emergency set around. Our power usually doesn't go out, so Esme and Emmett haven't gotten around to buying a generator yet. So for now we're stuck with this," Alice replied loftily, standing and turning to face Bella again. "C'mere. It's going to get cold pretty quick with the power out. I can't have you freezing on me."

Bella stood and walked over at Alice's motioning hand, and did not say her thoughts aloud, that even though Alice's skin was probably as cool as the air outside, she still somehow always made Bella hotter than any fire ever could.

She watched as Alice walked over to her bed and ripped the thick duvet free, flung it out on the floor in front of the crackling fire and then grabbed an armful of her numerously fluffy pillows before dumping them unceremoniously down as well.

She then reached out, grabbed Bella by the waist, and dropped them both to the duvet, so that Bella yelped and ended up in her lap this time.

"Now, where were we?" Alice murmured against her lips, voice silky smooth and eyes lidded.

"Right about here," Bella said back breathlessly, and kissed her with no further words, unable to resist those heart shaped lips a second longer.

Alice groaned into her mouth, and it did not take long before their tongues met.

Just like that, the mood came rushing back.

Like the fire building in the fireplace, Bella felt the slow burn Alice had been stoking in her core for so _long_ begin to crackle higher, heat filling her with every icy cool brush of Alice's skin on hers. She cupped the back of Alice's head and couldn't stop the soft, hungry little whimper she let out. The sound of it made Alice's chest rumble against hers, and Bella shivered in delight.

It was funny almost, how long that promise of slow they'd made lasted.

That is to say, it did not last long at all.

As they kissed, Bella's heat melted into her underwear, and she wanted, needed like she never had before. The heat of the fireplace on her left side, Alice's cool soft lips against hers, the texture and taste of her tongue, the tickle of the carpet on her knees, the sound of the rain and thunder outside…

It all really hit her, and Bella rocked forward on Alice's lap, rising up as Alice tilted her head up to keep their mouths together and moaned, that sweet, high pitched moan that always drove Bella wild.

Bella was _wanting_.

She was wanting _more_.

More than just lips, more of Alice, _all_ of her.

"Ugh, Bella-" Alice hissed and broke them apart as Bella sank back down onto her lap and moved her hips again, unmeaning to but naturally following the wanting as she immediately went for Alice's sensitive neck. She laid wet, hot kisses up and down the length of it, finding a particularly sensitive patch of skin right up under the vampire's jaw line. When she suckled at it, Alice gasped in a way that set her heart pounding even harder.

Alice pushed forward and Bella's back hit the floor without warning. She felt the thud of it jar into her bones, tease her libido and she whimpered as Alice draped over her, locked them up together in all the soft nooks and crooks and places that their bodies could fit; and _damn_, did they fit so well.

_Jesus!_

Bella moaned hungrily when Alice's mouth smothered hers with another growl. When she inhaled, Alice exhaled, and when Bella breathed, Alice breathed as their tongues got all tangled up and the vampire began to roll her hips between Bella's.

_Oh my god. _

"Alice!" Bella gasped, tilting her head back so that it hit the floor with a _thunk_ at the feeling of Alice…

Well, dry humping her.

It was so hot, and erotic, and the way Alice moved her hips so fluidly, like a dancer, grinding into Bella's core through her jeans…

And there were two cold hands sneaking up the front of her shirt, sliding over the hot skin of her trembling stomach, over her ribcage, swiftly, deliberately, until they cupped both of her breasts…

She didn't know why it was always Alice that went to feel her up first, and always went for her breasts. Probably because she was the top, and more forward than Bella, but either way, Bella certainly wasn't complaining.

Again, that knowing sensation that this was somehow going to be _more_ than anything else before flowed through Bella, and she felt no fear of it, only an indubitable _rightness_.

Because it was Alice, and so everything about it had to be right, was meant to be…And it felt so fucking good.

"God," Bella groaned, arching into Alice's touch, and shuddered as she bucked up to meet Alice's hips. Alice purred and captured her mouth again, squeezing her into her palms until Bella's eyes rolled back.

It was incredible how quickly they switched each other on, how easy it was to get each other going. And Bella loved to touch Alice as much as she loved to _be_ touched by her. So she swept her hands down Alice's hypersensitive back, loved the way she squirmed at her touch, before grabbing a hold of the vampire's ass and _yanking_ her into herself.

The noise Alice released into her mouth at that was not human, and Bella felt the sudden slip of her naked breasts falling out of her bra cups and into the pixie's hands proper. It was so quick that she was stunned and the ache between her thighs gave such a hungry, desperate throb that she cried out into Alice's mouth.

This was her mistake.

"No!" Alice gasped and jerked back, her hands releasing Bella as she went still, stopping the motion of her hips.

_No!_ Bella's mind cried, for an entirely different reason.

"Slow," Alice breathed, chest heaving even though she didn't need to breathe. When Bella peeled her eyes open, she could see how dark Alice's eyes had become, the part of her lips, the way her shirt was crooked…

She was not the only one worked up until it hurt. Bella could feel it pulsating in her sex, and she was so wet that when she shifted she could feel how slippery her folds had become, which only made her even hotter.

"Alice," Bella whispered, voice raspy. "_Alice_…"

"Slowly. We said slow…We have to slow down," Alice murmured down at her, and Bella experienced such a profound rush of irritation and wrongness at that that it literally cut through her.

"Why?" Bella demanded and sat up, forcing Alice to scoot back onto her thighs. "Why do we have to stop Alice? Why do we have to go so slowly?"

"Because," Alice frowned, seemingly perplexed. Both of them were breathing hard, and Bella had never wanted or loved anyone so much in her whole life. "We…That's…We're not supposed to…"

Alice was literally floundering for words, and Bella was actually aroused by the fact that Alice was so flustered.

_There is no reason_, Bella realized. _I'm not afraid. This is how it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be me and her…_

"Not supposed to what, Alice? Not supposed to love each other?" Bella groused, fisting the carpet.

"No!" Alice scoffed, affronted. "Bella, we just can't rush into this. We have to take our time. Sex is so special, and I don't want to ruin it by-"

"This doesn't feel rushed to me," Bella argued, though with no anger, just frustration that was both emotional and sexual. "It feels right. Everything with you always feels right to me."

"You're missing the point," Alice said exasperatedly, her voice still husky despite her protests.

"No, you are," Bella huffed. "I'm not-We're not rushing into this. I love you, you love me, and I don't need any more time. I want you, and I'm ready. Aren't you?"

"Bella, we only really got together a short while ago. We just need to wait…"

"What are you _waiting_ for?"

Alice seemed absolutely stumped by this question, and she squirmed uncertainly at the ferocity in Bella's eyes. Bella was not lying, or speaking out of some misguided teenage horniness. It was not something she had simply decided on the spot, or could ever second guess.

What she felt for Alice was real. It was real, and it wasn't going anywhere. What was the point of waiting purely for the sake of waiting? Because that's what was expected of them? That didn't make any sense. You were supposed to make love to someone when you were both ready, not wait for some bullshit grace period.

And they weren't _rushing_ into this. Their whole relationship had been a slow burn into what it was now, building momentum until they clashed together and understood the way they really felt, how it was supposed to be between them. It was not like they'd met two weeks ago and declared their undying love for each other within days of that. It had been almost a full year of spending every second they could with each other, going through more than most 'official' couples went through in an entire relationship.

_Slow_ was not what they needed. They'd been going slow for far too long, and Bella wanted to pick up the pace, to experience what they had fully and not partially. She was tired of holding back with Alice, especially when there wasn't really a reason too. (Her libido might have had something to do with it, but not much.)

She just didn't understand the point of fighting this, of kissing Alice and getting all worked up and holding themselves back for no reason. The fire in her belly was as much a part of her as the fire in her heart, and Bella just knew the way you are supposed to know that she was ready for Alice, ready for everything, not just part of it.

Well…There was a teeny tiny part of her that whined about not being ready. She had never had sex with a girl, and the only ideas she had about it were from internet research, which was sketchy at best. She'd briefly dabbled in lesbian porn, and learned quickly how fake and useless that was. (But…She also learned how little of an issue she had with the thought of touching another girl. The thought of going down on another girl actually excited her, which was definitely fortunate.)

Some websites were actually helpful, but still, the whole thing was foreign.

She wasn't a virgin or anything. She'd lost that to a guy named Scottie who used to be her best friend back in Arizona, so that wasn't an issue. All of these things felt like minor details that didn't really mean much to Bella.

She was _ready_ for this, for Alice.

None of that really bothered her. It was Alice, so it all had to work out fine. That's just how it worked between them.

"I don't really know. It's just what you're supposed to do in a relationship, right? Don't rush right into the sex…" Alice mumbled.

"Does this feel rushed to you? Because it feels absolutely perfect to me. Everything is perfect when you're with me, Alice. We've always shared everything with each other, since the moment we met. We never held back, never had to, so why should this be any different? I don't want just part of you. I want all of you, and I want you to have all of me. And there is nothing wrong with that…"

"It's not like I don't _want_ to. Bella, I _need_ it. I have to hunt twice as often because of you, did you know that? Just to stop the aching inside, the yearning," Alice admitted, sounding increasingly desperate. Bella heard the way her voice was weakening, and it spurred her on even further.

"Alice…I can stop the ache. You don't have to yearn from afar. I'm right here. All you have to do…Is _take me_."

Alice rumbled at that, her brass eyes darkening another shade. Their lips hovered so closely, and when Alice spoke again, Bella knew she'd won, and that it was a victory for both of them for her to have gotten them over that hurdle.

"Why am I being educated about sex by an eighteen year old?" Alice sighed, eyelashes fluttering as her eyes glanced down at Bella's lips.

"Because you're a weenie," Bella said fondly, and kissed her.

The excitement she felt soared in that flying sensation Alice provoked in her, and she groaned as the vampire pushed her slowly by the shoulders until her head hit a particularly thick pillow as Alice laid her out again.

"Are you sure?" Alice groaned between kisses, her hands pressing down on Bella's stomach. "Are you _really_ sure?"

"Completely," Bella whimpered, trying to kiss her deeper, but Alice gave her quick pecks instead that drove her crazy.

"Do you trust me?" Alice murmured against her mouth, the tips of her fingers hooking on the end of Bella's shirt, stilling for just a moment.

_Yes_, she thought in exasperation, but saw the vulnerability in Alice's darkening eyes. They were almost the shade of the blackening wood popping in the fireplace, and the sight of them made her stomach twist.

"With my whole heart," Bella replied helplessly, sincerely, and Alice took a deep breath.

"Do you love me?"

Bella softened, and when she spoke, she made sure to look right into Alice's eyes to make damn sure she knew she was being genuine, without a doubt.

"With everything I have."

Alice beamed, ebony eyes twinkling, and then pushed Bella's shirt up without another word. She sat up instinctively to help get out of it, and when it hit the floor, the brief moment of embarrassment she experienced was erased the second Alice's hungry eyes locked on her.

Alice seemed to be roused at the loss of her first piece of clothing, and it was so erotic to see her desire take over. The vampire dove for her, and before Bella realized what was happening, there were lips and tongue and even teeth on her skin, _everywhere_.

Alice was everywhere at once, and she felt the snap of her bra coming off, felt it slip down her arms, and for the first time, she was fully bared breast wise to her friend in a way that was seriously more than platonic locker room showers.

The exhilaration destroyed any hint of insecurity, because it was Alice, and Alice could never judge her, or hurt her.

"Beautiful," she heard Alice groan as she dug her head back into the pillow and trembled with soft gasps as the vampire peppered kisses down between them, and cupped them in the smooth grace of her palms. "So beautiful…"

_You are. You're beautiful, Alice, _Bella thought, and her mind turned to mush as Alice's head slipped lower and she was squeezed with exquisite pressure in slender fingers.

"If you want this," Alice whispered, and trailed her lips down the valley between her breasts. "If you're ready, I'm ready. I told you Bella, I told you baby, that I'm going to _worship_ you…Every. Inch. Of your perfection."

Alice's voice was a husky scream at her sanity and Bella melted as she gushed into her underwear the moment Alice took her right nipple into the cool heaven of her mouth.

_Oh fuck. _

Bella mewled a foreign noise and arched her back, her fingers tangling in Alice's hair as the girl suckled at her hungrily, with a sweetness that was firm enough to make her legs part. Little jolts of pleasure raced to her clit. Alice's tongue flicked over the bud that was now rock hard, stiffer than Bella had ever felt it under her own ministrations, and then the vampire switched over and gave her other breast the same attention.

_I'm dead. I'm dying. I'm gone. _

Bella trembled as Alice purred around her breasts, ran her hands over her ribs, all over her body, and then kissed back up her to her mouth only when Bella was literally soaking through her underwear and panting for more.

When Alice's tongue plunged back into her mouth, Bella realized through the haze of her bomb rushing arousal that she was being fairly complacent, completely inactive, and that actually sent a thrill of panic through her.

"Alice," Bella groaned when Alice hooked her fingers into the waist band of her jeans. She could feel them scratching on her legs and wanted them off, hated the constriction. "It's your turn."

Bella surged up and Alice stiffened in surprise, but when the brunette grabbed for her cami and shoved it up with movements that were not rushed, but paced with the eagerness and want they both felt, the vampire quickly realized what she was trying to do and shrugged out of it.

She wasn't wearing a bra, and when her small, perfect fucking breasts bounced into view, Bella actually salivated.

If she'd been in the right state of mind, she might have laughed.

How could she ever have thought she was straight?

How the hell could anybody be straight when things like those existed?

Things like Alice, and her tits, and her flat stomach with the faint definition of her abs, the shameless blaze in her smoldering black eyes…

"Come _here_," Bella demanded, and though she had no idea what she was really doing, she followed her instincts, and buried her face into Alice's chest, latching onto her skin and sucking and kissing and licking until Alice let loose a guttural, vampiric rumble and fisted her hair in her hand.

Alice seemed to like what she was doing at least. She could tell by the way pheromones poured into the air around her, saturating it in Alice and her godly scent. They were an aphrodisiac, urging her on. She could taste Alice in the oxygen she breathed, surrounded by her.

"Bella," she groaned and Bella moaned at the sound of that lovely voice.

She knew what Alice wanted, and when she took one of those pert little pink buds between her lips, the way Alice arched into her and clutched at the base of her skull made her feel the wetness of her sex overflow.

_God, god, god. She tastes so good!_

She could have stayed there forever, basking between Alice's perky mounds, but the vampire had other plans.

Some very nice plans.

Bella felt Alice pull her off with deliberate but gentle force way too soon, and when her head hit the pillows again, Alice solved the rest of their clothes problem in the blink of an eye.

Bella blinked and gasped when she felt a rough yank on both of hips, heard a slight ripping sound, and then felt the toasty air created by the fire on her naked legs.

And her exposed sex.

Alright, that one was a little more embarrassing. Especially because she was fucking _dripping_.

Bell had never been so wet in her life. When she looked down, she saw Alice rip her own beloved pair of designer jeans open, caught a flash of electric blue panties disappearing, and then the vampire was back on her, all _over_ her.

Bliss.

Pure, naked bliss.

Alice's front slid over hers, breasts pressed together, and their legs tangled after Alice finished kicking the ruins of her jeans away. Bella cried out as the girl effortlessly settled in between her thighs and began to _roll_ those ballerina hips of her again.

Her brain snapped off, and everything turned into this primal slurry of hunger and heat and ice as she throbbed in the most intimate of areas.

It was _so_ much different without clothes in the way.

"Oh, Alice," Bella whimpered. "Fuck, _Alice_."

Alice growled and locked their mouths up, and kissed her so furiously, so deeply that she felt herself sink back into the silk of the duvet, rise up into the silk of Alice's skin. The way Alice got them moving then was so base that Bella spasmed and struggled to keep herself together when the vampire was so easily breaking her apart.

_I love her, I love her, I love her. _

Her hips followed after Alice's, rocking up when Alice rolled down, and Bella actually felt her aching, slippery sex slide against the base of her abs when she pushed down. The desperate noise of pleasure she let out at that made Alice drive down harder as Bella mindlessly ran her hands down every inch of that sensitive, bowing back, drowning in all the flawless marble skin.

_She's so beautiful. So fucking gorgeous, and I can't-I can't-_

"Alice," Bella moaned. "_Please_."

She did not know what she was begging for.

But Alice did.

And it was _more_.

"Shh," Alice hissed against her lips and kissed at her chin. "Let me take care of you. Let me give you everything you deserve, and more, because I love you…I love you so much Bella…And now I'm going to show you how much."

Her words set Bella on fire. Her body radiated with it, and only Alice's cool touch could soothe her.

Alice slid away from the grasp of her lips and it made Bella frantic, but then that heavenly mouth was dragging down her collarbone, pausing to lavish her breasts briefly, and then down, down, _down_.

Down.

_Oh my sweet Jesus Christ_, Bella's eyes widened as she watched and felt Alice kiss down to her hip bones and nip at them with her front teeth until they jumped. Her thighs were trembling when Alice ran her hands over them, and her heart leapt straight into her throat when that silky head of hair dropped just a bit lower.

And then skipped by where Bella needed her the most.

Bella exhaled a heavy breath as Alice kissed down the insides of her thighs, and she was parted for her, everything was open and revealed, the evidence of her arousal, but Alice ignored it, fucking ignored that throbbing spot, refused to even acknowledge it, and layered the lengths of her legs with kisses and suckles, leaving marks, bruises, love bites.

"Please," Bella whimpered again, helplessly, shamelessly. Who wouldn't beg? How could she not?

"Mm, Bells, Bella, my sweet Isabella," Alice purred, her black eyes flickering up at the plea. "You smell so…_Delicious_."

Bella's ear drums shuddered at that voice, Alice's voice. Her high voice all low and rasping, until her gut was being pulled by merely the sound of it.

"You smell…Good enough to eat, huh?"

Bella didn't know whether she wanted to laugh or cry at the wink and grin Alice shot her at the cliché line, but she ended up doing this weird triad of both mixed with a shocked, high pitched cry when Alice, with no further ado, leaned in and licked her.

Alice's cool, lithe tongue slipped between her slick folds at the base of her entrance, and dragged up swiftly, lovingly, and the dexterous tip flicked off of her pulsing clit with such precision that Bella came.

She actually came, right then and there, fisting the duvet in both hands and crying out Alice's name.

_Alice just-With her mouth-Down there!_

"Alice! _Alice_!"

She felt the vampire's hands wrap around her hips and press down firmly on her lower stomach, easily pinning her ass back down even as Bella quaked, spasming and cumming and searching fruitlessly for breath. Alice did not skip a beat, and before Bella could even realize what was happening to her, that she was already climaxing, Alice's tongue was going back for more.

Again and again Alice licked her, the same way, all over her, flattening her tongue against every sensitive, sweet spot, and flashing over her bundle of nerves at the end of every stroke. And Bella fucking lost it.

_God-Shit-Fuck-Damn-_

Bella slammed the back of her head into the pillow and arched, clutching at the blanket beneath her as she crunched her stomach up and stared at the ceiling with her mouth hanging open. A litany of noises she'd never known she was even capable of fell out of her mouth, and she closed her thighs around Alice's apple cheekbones to somehow alleviate the powerful pulsating ache coursing through the muscles of her cunt.

"Alice-_Alice_-"

It was all she could do to get the girl's name out as the coil in her stomach snapped back tight again, gearing up for more as Alice growled into her, sending delicious vibrations through her. When the pixie's tongue dipped into her, tasting the inside of her, Bella's hips bucked, and she felt that cool tongue pierce her until her eyebrows scrunched up and Alice moaned into her.

"You taste so fucking good, Bella," Alice groaned. "So fucking _good_."

Without warning, Alice shifted up and drew her clit into her mouth. The suction made her eyes roll back as more ungodly noises rolled out of her throat, and Alice pampered the nub ruthlessly, until Bella actually sobbed and flung her hands out, reaching for something better than that stupid duvet to ground herself.

_Oh hell, oh God_, Bella thought desperately. _It feels so good_.

Her hands found purchase on Alice's hair, and the slip of silky chopped locks under her fingers was divine. She clung, probably too tightly, and Alice growled into her again, so loudly that Bella whimpered and let go.

She made better do by grabbing onto both of Alice's hands with her own, and felt the way they locked together effortlessly. Their fingers laced, and Bella arched, seeing stars as that knot turned into a boiling, building escalation of heat that threatened to spill out of her sex at any second, if only Alice didn't stop.

But she did.

Alice released her clit, and kissed it once before she slid back up smoothly, too fast for a human.

"No, don't stop!" Bella cried. "Alice, _please_-"

"Shh," Alice hushed her. "I've got you baby. I've got you Bella."

Alice took one of her hands and swiftly pinned her arm behind her head. She shook out the other one from Bella's tight grip and lowered it between her thighs, where her fingers slipped into the melt she'd left aching there.

Bella's breath hitched as she realized what was about to happen, and Alice kissed her at the same moment that she plunged two fingers into her swollen, tight passage.

Bella almost swallowed her fucking tongue. (Which would have been a shame, really. She was going to need that later, if she had any hope of giving Alice back even a smidgeon of what she was getting.)

"Fuck!" Bella swore aloud, ripping her mouth from Alice's and flinging it to the side as the vampire began to fuck her, make love to her walls with the slip and slide of her pistoning fingers. Bella could feel every inch of them, the drag of each individual knuckle, the curve and flex of her joints, the ice of her skin against the heat of her pulsating walls.

"Like that, baby?" Alice whispered against her ear. "Like _this_?"

Bella gasped and arched, her hips jerking to chase the rhythm of Alice's diving fingers that hit spots inside her she didn't even know she had. She looked up and saw Alice's eyes less than an inch from her own, felt the brush of the bridges of their noses, saw the flames from the fire dancing in her burning coal irises, saw the length of her bright white extended fangs.

Bella grunted, and licked her, a natural, affectionate move she never even planned. It's not like she could really plan or think at all, anyway, but she did it. Her tongue darted out and flicked across Alice's mouth, and Alice _snarled_ at her.

Bella cried out at the noise, in arousal, not fear. Alice's fingers _hooked_ into her, curving into a spot on the front wall of her core that wrenched her right to the edge, hanging on the precipice. She jerked her head to the side as some primal instinct soared through her, and sank her teeth into the softness of the pillow, tasted the fabric of the case, just to keep from _screaming_ in ecstasy.

"Oh god, I should have known you'd be a fucking pillow biter," Alice hissed, and latched onto her pulse point, sucking at it fervently as her fingers began to plunge in and out faster, raking over nerves. "That's it baby. Come on, Bella, give it to me. Finish, break all over my fingers. Go ahead, I've got you. You can let it go, Bella. Let it go baby. Bella, _let it go_."

Damn, her _voice_, her words.

It was Bella's undoing.

She did what Alice said, as if she ever had any choice. She let it go.

All her tight, tensing muscles snapped taut as she gave into the pull at her lower gut as Alice pressed down hard on her lower belly and made her give in with the pressure, the rake of her thumb over her clit, the stab of her fingers.

The orgasm Bella felt rush up on her was so powerful that it was like nothing she'd ever felt or expected, and her thighs spread wide as her back twisted, and everything blurred together.

Her walls collapsed on Alice's fingers and she bucked into them, released the pillow so she could let out this high pitched whistle of air that might have been a scream, and came, and came and came. Alice's tongue got into her mouth and she clung to her hips, raked her nails down her back, squirmed, writhed, fell apart totally.

When the ecstasy pumping through her sex finally slowed to these delicious, rolling aches of pleasure that Alice soothed by taking her slick hand and rubbing slowly over the outsides of her folds, Bella finally slumped, breathless, clinging to her.

She moaned softly, weakly as Alice kissed her, still with hunger, but gentler, almost comfortingly. The brush of her palm brought Bella down easy, so she could enjoy every last bit of her orgasm. Bella's hair stuck to the side of her neck with sweat, and her thighs were still quivering, but she finally managed to gulp down air and meet Alice's gaze.

The intimacy there made her breath hitch all over again, and for a moment, they just stared into each other's eyes and basked in each other.

_God damn_, Bella thought, swallowing hard._ I love her so much. I love her _so_ much. Why would we ever wait to do this? To share this with her…This is how it's supposed to be. Me and her. Together. In every way…_

"So…" Alice murmured sweetly and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face as Bella panted. Bella stared up at her with adoration in her eyes, listening with every brain cell Alice hadn't already shattered.

"Am I good or what?"

Bella furrowed her brow as Alice broke into this huge, full blown smirk. It was only the twinkle in her eye that gave her away, and Bella could not stop the ear to ear grin on her own face.

They both exploded into a fit of giggles that made Bella feel high from the combined post coital rush, and she laughed, exalting in Alice's joyful, playful personality.

"That's the first thing you say to me after our first time?" Bella giggled and poked her side, eyes glazed and probably dreamier than she meant them to be. "You are an egomaniac."

She was completely starstruck, awed by Alice's sexual prowess. She'd never expected that level out of the girl, though she knew it would be good. Alice was just that kind of person who was so confident in herself, and so experienced, that of course it would be.

But _that_ was a whole 'nother level.

Telling her that, however, was a supremely bad idea. No use giving her not so humble girlfriend a big head.

"A maniac for you," Alice said fondly, and dotted an affectionate kiss to her lips. They both snorted at her cheesy line, and kissed again because they both knew it totally worked on Bella anyway.

Somehow the sweet kiss quickly deepened into something much steamier, and Bella was completely aware of Alice's hand resting on the inside of her thigh with slick fingers.

_If she can do that for me…Shit, how am I ever going to compare?_ She wondered uncertainly, languidly running her tongue over Alice's when the girl shifted against her, humming quietly.

_I've got to try. At least that. I have to give her something. Anything to return the mind blowing experience she just gave me_, she thought determinedly, sliding her hands down to Alice's lower back, feeling the smooth muscles.

Slowly, she got a handful of Alice's perfect ass, and felt Alice groan into her mouth. With her other hand, she hesitantly ran it down over her hip, and dipped it shakily toward the inside of Alice's thighs. The pheromones Alice had been producing had dissipated when they slowed down, but Bella felt them come rushing back quickly, making it a little harder to breathe, to think.

"Mmf-Wait, Bella," Alice mumbled and pulled away. "You don't have to-I'm okay…"

"Alice," Bella said with a warning in her voice. "Don't even."

Alice stared down at her and hesitated.

"It's your first time, baby doll. I just wanted this to be about you. You've never done this before, so I didn't want to put the pressure on you…I'm alright, really, I don't need-"

Alice was lying through her pearly white teeth. She was a vampire, and as phenomenal as her control was, Bella could see how far her pupils had dilated, the primordial hunger swirling inside them. She'd hunted today, but there was no trace of gold in her big beautiful eyes.

Alice was turned on, undoubtedly. It delighted Bella that Alice was to the point with arousal that she could actually feel her hand shaking on her thigh, see her chest rising and falling faster than even a human's. It only further steeled her resolve.

"Alice…" Bella murmured, and with a surge of inspiration, reached down and grabbed the hand still on her thigh. Slowly, she brought it up, and Alice let her. She brought Alice's fingers right up to her lips, and with only a moment's pause, she took them into her mouth.

Alice hissed immediately, and Bella was careful to keep her teeth off of the vampire's skin. The last thing she wanted was to deal with that nonsense, but she did run her tongue between them as she stared right into Alice's eyes and sucked off her own cum, tasting herself as Alice's lips parted and her fangs dipped.

She'd tasted herself before, out of curiosity, and she didn't mind her own taste really. It was nothing special, but not terrible either. Alice said she tasted fucking good though, so that was all that mattered.

And proving a point.

"Oh my god, Bella," Alice groaned. "That's so…_Hot_."

Bella grinned a little, and slowly drew Alice's fingers back out of her mouth with a decisive pop.

"Let me do this, Alice. I may not know what I'm doing…And honestly, I'm probably going to suck. But I want to do this for you. You can show me how to do this right. You can lead me, and I want to. Please, Alice. Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you," Alice answered vehemently, eyes flashing.

Honestly, part of Bella really was thinking with her libido, and wanted to touch Alice, all over her perfect little body. The rest of her was extremely determined to give as good as she got, for Alice, because she loved her, and she deserved it.

She definitely deserved it. Bella's insides were still quivering from her orgasms.

_This should have been my first time_, she thought. _Alice should have been my first. She made me feel beautiful, sexy, loved, and freaking amazing._

Even if Alice wasn't her first time over all, she was still her first time with a girl…And by the way Bella felt about her, she could certainly be the last she ever had.

And she could die happy with that, really.

As long as she let Bella return the favor, damn it.

Alice rolled her head on her shoulders and took a deep breath. She held it, and did not let it out again.

"Do you love me?" Bella inquired, though she knew the answer.

She was still trying to prove her point here.

"Yes. To hell and heaven and back again," Alice hissed, and kissed her firmly, a little roughly, so that Bella moaned into her mouth.

It took a lot of effort to regain her senses after that one.

"Then let me do this."

Alice gave in.

"Okay…_Yes_. Do it, Bella. Touch me."

_With pleasure. _

When Bella moved her hand between Alice's legs again, the vampire only hovered over her, elbows on either side of the human's head and shaking slightly. The tremor of her muscles excited Bella, and when she hesitantly brushed her fingers over Alice's sex, she felt them tingle from the tips all the way to the hairs on the back of her neck.

Alice was cool and soft like silk, and Bella felt the copious amounts of wetness pooled between her thighs.

Alice was soaked.

Aroused beyond belief at the thought, Bella bit her lip and gazed up at her lover. Alice had closed her eyes and was not breathing, but Bella could see her fangs peeking out from under her upper lip. For some reason they turned her on as much as anything else, and she reverently ran her fingers over Alice, watching her every reaction.

_You can do this_, she told herself when Alice's lips parted further, and so did her legs. _She wants you too. So just…Do what feels right. Do what she did to you._

Snort.

As if she could ever match Alice.

_Make her feel good. Just make it feel good. I can do that much, can't I? Can't I?_

Awkwardly, Bella continued to languidly stroke her from below, feeling the texture of her, getting a thrill from being able to touch Alice here. She wasn't sure how to proceed, but natural feminine instinct led her to Alice's clit.

Some of the websites she'd visited had told her that verbal communication during bed play was essential; if she wasn't sure how Alice liked to be touched, she should just…Ask her.

And talking to Alice had never been an issue for her.

"How do you…How-"

Okay, maybe this was different. Saying something so…Lewd was not usually Bella's forte, but when Alice's eyes popped open and bore into hers, throbbing with hunger that _needed_ to be fulfilled, a yearning and an ache Bella had told her she could take care of, she womaned the fuck up and did it.

"How do you play with yourself?"

Alice's upper lip curled back and her eyes flashed at the question. Bella gulped, and though she'd already cum hard at least twice (Or was it three times? She couldn't tell) she still felt a twinge of arousal. When Alice spoke, her voice was high and husky.

"Jesus, Bella…Circles. Start with circles."

Bella did as she was told, and brought her fingers up to the hard nub nestled in the softness of Alice's folds. The feel of it when it rolled beneath them as she began to circle Alice's clit slowly was somehow erotic, but it was Alice's light whimper that really got to her.

"Yeah-Like that…Faster. And tighter circles-D-Don't be afraid to press down…_Ugh_."

Alice's hips lifted in delight as Bella followed her orders eagerly, adjusting her movements to Alice's specifications to get the most out of her pleasure.

"Like that Bella…Just like that," Alice moaned and began to rock her hips to chase her massaging fingers. Bella licked her lips hungrily.

_God she's so pretty_, she thought, mesmerized by the furrow appearing in Alice's brow.

She'd put that there. She was the one making Alice feel good, and she loved it. She never wanted to stop doing it. She wanted to give her more, the more she obviously needed, that she'd given to Bella before.

Bella sped up, circling the bundle of nerves faster so that Alice made this quiet whimpering noise that turned her on.

_More_, she thought. _I have to give her more. I want to give it all back to her. Come on Alice. I can do this for you. I swear…_

Without being prompted, Bella suddenly slipped her hand downward, and precariously, gingerly slipped a finger into Alice.

_Oh my god. _

Bella was _inside_ her. She was inside of Alice, in the most intimate part of her. Alice gasped at the intrusion, as Bella froze in awe. Alice was cool inside as well as outside, and her walls were tight on the lone digit Bella had pushed up to the last knuckle in her. Her outsides were silk, and her insides were velvet.

Bella felt her whole hand tingle, and struck by a sudden fervor, she began to move her finger, instinctively pumping it.

"F-Fuck," Alice gasped again, and bucked her hips. "Bella…"

Alice moaning her name was the best fucking thing on the planet, she was sure of it. She wanted to hear it again and again.

Still unsure of what exactly to do, but having this instinctual guidance telling her what to do, Bella did her damndest to mimic the way Alice had moved inside of her. She curved her finger, feeling it slip deeper. When Alice let loose one of her high pitched noises, she did it again, and this time she hooked it so that it caught on something that made Alice cry out.

"Yes," Alice groaned, and Bella stared up at her gorgeous face to see it twisting up in pleasure. "Like that baby. Just like that Bella. More. _More_."

_More. I have to give her more. _

Bella felt this unfathomable, powerful urge to make Alice climax. It coursed through her veins, and with a grunt of effort, she shot up and flipped them. Alice snarled and but Bella was used to the animalistic noise of aggression, and reveled in it as she darted in to kiss her and slipped another finger into Alice's core.

Together they made Alice tighter around her fingers, and the stretch and give made Bella dizzy with need and want. Fresh wetness coated her thighs as she bore down on Alice, heart pounding, mind racing.

Alice's hard, rough noise quickly transformed into a mewl, and she dug her fingers into Bella's hips, bucking her own upward.

"Oh, oh, oh," Alice moaned, mouth hanging open. "Oh god, Bella-Yes. Faster. God, Bella, _faster_."

Bella obeyed, working her wrist a bit clumsily but intuitively, following Alice's rhythm, anything that made the pleasure in her eyes intensify.

_I'm doing it. I can do this. God, for her, I'm going to make her feel the best I can. Come on Alice. Give into me. Give it all to me. _

Bella's brow furrowed with concentration, and she worked into Alice faster. She could literally feel slick, cool walls working to clamp down on her fingers, so tightly that it almost hurt. Alice's insides were as strong as her outsides, and Bella loved it.

She was trying her hardest, she really was. She moved into Alice the way she usually moved into herself, mixing it with what she'd felt Alice do to her, with what seemed to make Alice moan the loudest.

Every sweet moan spurred her on, and she felt Alice's fingernails rake along the back of her neck. The slight sting made her gasp.

"God Bella…You're a _natural _baby," Alice praised her, and arched her back. "I'm not-I can't-"

Alice couldn't speak. Words were failing her, and Bella was elated.

"But you're thinking too much," Alice hissed, and heaved up to snatch Bella's head and yank it down so that she could speak directly to her hear.

"Stop thinking so much and _fuck _me, because I can take it. I promise I can take whatever you can give me, Bella, so you better give it _all_ to me."

Ah.

Words were not failing Alice, and Bella whimpered, slacking off for a second as the muscles of her arm burned and Alice's words cut into her libido.

And then Bella locked her jaw, and with total determination, she did as Alice wanted. She stopped holding back, stopped analyzing everything she was doing, and just slammed into her. Alice yelped at the roughness, and then growled in delight, loving it.

It was almost like she'd forgotten Alice was a vampire, and now she remembered that Alice could take every ounce of strength she might put behind the thrusts of her digits. So Bella gave her everything, everything she could, following instinct over whatever little skill she might have.

She drove her fingers into Alice again and again, hard and fast, making damn sure to hit that one spot that made Alice cry out every single time. She found it, she memorized it, burned it into her mind, and knew she'd never miss it again.

"Yes, yes, yes-Bella!"

_Come on, come on, come on. Alice, baby, come _on_! _

Bella felt their bodies slide together, slick with her sweat, the heat from the fireplace almost sweltering now as she really went to work, rolling her shoulder, pumping her fingers, twisting her wrist, anything she could until she thought her whole arm was going to fall off.

She couldn't push Alice over the edge. The vampire was obviously close, and Bella was dying to finish her. Alice was bucking into her, but she needed one last thing…What? What the fuck could she do? She was doing everything she could-

Oh wait.

Bella swung her thumb around and pressed down on Alice's clit, mentally slapping herself for her stupidity, and watched in fascination and amazement as Alice crunched her abs and bowed her back up in this perfect little arch as her heart shaped lips opened in ecstasy.

"_Bella_!"

It came on so suddenly.

Alice's thighs closed on her wrist and her inner walls gave this wickedly strong spasm, contracting wildly around her fingers so hard that she felt them jam together. The vampire let loose a gut wrenching snarl that tapered off into a high, high pitched mewl of bliss as she trapped Bella's hand between her legs and squeezed with everything she had.

Bella felt her wrist flare as Alice arched so far up, and gasped in awe as she watched her orgasm. She didn't even feel the pain, too focused on watching Alice fall apart around her, and it seemed to go on forever, for only a split second.

Alice's stomach was trembling when she fell back to earth and finally let go of the vice grip on Bella's wrist. Her legs slipped apart and Bella pulled her fingers out, her arm aching from effort. Her wrist was hurting, but she ignored it in favor of leaning down to hesitantly kiss Alice as the girl panted for air she didn't need.

"God damn Bella," Alice gasped against her mouth, swiping her hand through Bella's hair as the human fell into her, exhausted but pleased with herself.

_I did it_, she thought in wonderment. _It may not have been pretty, or even good, but I did it._

For a long time they just lay there together. Bella was nestled up into her side and Alice's hand played absentmindedly with her hair, until she felt like a lazy cat that wanted nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep. She rested her chin on the girl's collarbone as Alice purred and tilted her head back into the pillows.

She seemed pretty content, but Bella was not entirely sure she'd done everything right. Towards the end there, she felt like she'd gone a little pussy crazy or something (she kicked herself for that thought) and hoped she hadn't gone overboard or tried too hard or something equally embarrassingly awful.

"Was that…Was that okay?" she inquired insecurely.

Alice stirred from her daze, and turned to Bella with heavy lidded eyes and raised eyebrows.

"Are you kidding me?" Alice said.

Bella winced, fearing the worst.

"That was _incredible_."

Blinking, Bella sat up a little and draped an arm over Alice's middle, resting her hand on her chest.

"What? Really?" she tilted her head in disbelief. "But I-"

"Bella, baby, for a first timer, that was phenomenal. Sweetheart, you're a natural. Could you not tell by my reaction?" Alice chuckled, smoothing back her hair and gazing at her fondly.

Bella pursed her lips, and cocked her head the other way, thinking about it. It made Alice grin at her until her nose crinkled.

"Don't look so surprised with yourself. You take direction so easily, and then you just-You just went for it. And it worked. I mean…_Damn_."

Alice giggled, and the sound of it made a slow smirk split Bella's face.

_Did I? Well…Hell yeah. Yes! I didn't suck! In fact, I was good!_

"Oh no, don't you start. Egomania is _my_ thing," Alice admonished at the slightly smug expression on Bella's face.

"Sorry," Bella said, not sorry at all, and they both grinned at each other.

They spent a few minutes just gazing at each other, enjoying each other. They snuggled up, and Bella loved how affectionate Alice became, purring and petting her, bundling her up in her arms to kiss at her skin and lips chastely.

When Alice went for her hand, however, to kiss it, and maybe lick off the fluids shining on them in the firelight like Bella had, Bella winced in pain.

"Ow!"

"Shit, Bella, did I hurt you?" Alice sat up a little and cradled her hand tenderly. "I'm so sorry-I trusted my control, I didn't think I was hurting you. Are you okay? Can you move it at all? Is it broken? Can you bend your fingers?"

Bella laughed at the rapid fire worried questions, and shook her head.

"Alice, stop. I'm fine. It's just a little sore. I don't even think you sprained it. And my fingers are doing just fine. They just need to be cleaned off," Bella reassured her.

Alice hesitated, but then she smirked and said, "Oh, really?"

Sensing Alice's intentions, Bella beat her to it, and licked the wetness of her fingers before the vampire could.

Alice paused at that, and gave her a curious look.

"Sorry…It's just, you got a taste, and I didn't," Bella shrugged, and was stunned at the coy way she did it.

Alice tasted fantastic, by the way. She tasted sweet, and faintly salty, like ice water. The vague hint of berries tantalized her taste buds, and Bella had to resist the urge to go for the source right then and there.

Alice had pulled out the sex kitten in her, apparently, and she liked the way Alice's eyes flashed at her for it.

"Yeah? Well I'm sure we can remedy that sometime in the near future," Alice drawled sultrily, and leaned forward to kiss her.

Bella honestly thought she could probably go another round, but Alice drew back far too quickly.

"But," Alice sighed regretfully. "The family will be home soon, and we need to air this place out. Plus, I need to breathe something besides your intoxicating scent for a minute. Even my control only goes so far, baby doll."

Bella pouted a little, but it was mostly for show.

"Yeah, this fire is super romantic and everything, but I'm really hot," Bella replied. "And if you make a joke about that I'm going to hit you."

Alice smirked but mimed zipping her lips, and Bella shuffled to sit upright. She briefly considered covering herself up, but seriously, after what they just did?

Nah. Alice could look all she wanted, and look Alice did.

But only if Bella got to look back.

Which she did.

They admired each other for a moment, and then laughed at each other for doing it. Alice's plan for airing the room out happened to be nothing more than opening the balcony door and letting in the cool, fresh scent of the quietly falling rain. The thunder and lightning was mostly through, and Alice stepped out under the awning into the open air. She took several huge gulps of Bella-less air from outside, and stood there for a few minutes. When she turned around, Bella walked over with the sheet from the bed and lifted it so Alice could slip under it with her.

They sat on the couch out there for a while, and Bella had never felt so at peace with the world, watching the rain splash on the tree tops, cooling her overheated body against Alice's, as they enjoyed one of their quiet moods together, not needing to say a word.

They'd said it all already, with their bodies, so she just rested her head on Alice's shoulder and breathed her in.

Whatever happened today, Alice made it go away. Whatever might happen tomorrow, Alice would be there to get her through it. Everything was fine, it was all perfect. Everything would be okay.

"Hey, sweetheart, we've got to get up. As much as I'd love to stay here with you forever, the family will be home in about twenty minutes," Alice lilted out, breaking their trance. Bella stirred, having been close to dozing off on Alice's shoulder.

"Do we have to?" she mumbled, nuzzling Alice's neck.

"Afraid so," Alice murmured, and kissed her cheekbone. "I forgot to tell you that Carlisle finally finished his testing on Rosalie, so this weekend you're going to come over and talk about it. So unless you want to make things twice as awkward with her by being here when she gets home and finds out what we've been doing, you might want to get your cute butt up and get dressed."

Bella shot straight up, alarmed.

"You're serious? How is she going to know?" she panicked.

Rosalie making fun of her as she undoubtedly would for their lovemaking was not something she was interested in seeing.

"Bella…Honey, you smell fantastic. They're all probably going to smell you before they even get a foot in the door."

Oh god.

No, no, no.

"Shit!" Bella yelped, scrambling to her feet. "How long do we have? Why didn't you tell me that?"

"We've got about seven minutes, so you might want to hurry so I can get you home," Alice laughed, obviously nowhere near as bothered at the thought that her family was going to know immediately that they'd being doing the horizontal electric slide, and would smell all of Bella's arousal-

Ugh!

"Wait-You're taking me home?" Bella froze, halfway back into the room. "But…We just…"

Alice stood up and kissed her firmly on the mouth.

"I'm taking you home so I can spend the night with you after making love with you, of course. What? You didn't think I was going to pull a wham-bam-thank-you-mam or something, did you?"

Bella floundered, because yes, she'd been afraid Alice was going to take her home and leave her there when emotionally she really needed her after something as intense and raw as sex.

But of course, she was freaking out over nothing. As if Alice would ever.

"I would never do that, Bella. I'm not stupid. I'm going to take you home, and then go hunt so I can come back and snuggle you all night. So hop to it, sweet cheeks."

Alice winked, slapped her playfully on the ass, and darted past her. Blushing, Bella glared after her, but it was useless to even try to pretend to be upset with the vampire.

Even the thought of having to deal with Rosalie this weekend was not enough to deter the lovey dovey afterglow she still basked in, so she just smiled and hurried after Alice.

* * *

_**First times are a bitch to write. So sorry if I screwed it up. I wanted it to be tasteful, but erotic at the same time, ya know? It's kind of hard to do, especially for a first time. I also wanted it to fit the nature of their relationship, and blahblahblah. You may not realize it but Bella being a natural in the sheets is actually character development, lol. Any guesses as to how? :P **__**Oh, and obviously I was wrong about the stuff being addressed with Rosalie this chapter. My bad. This thing writes itself, I swear. It's cute that I think I have a say in it. But if I take forever to update, you know why. **_

_**School. UGH. **_


	20. Chapter 20

_**So la da di da di, we like to party, dancing with Miley-**_

_**And why the fuck is this over 10k words?**_

_**Oh well. I guess that means I...Can't stop, huh? **_

_**Okay, sorry. I'll go punch myself in the face for that one, don't worry. Read on!**_

* * *

The shit eating grin on Emmett's face when she and Alice walked into the Cullen home hand in hand that Saturday evening was only one of many he would send their way all night.

"Well, well, well," Emmett grinned as he flung the door open and saw them standing there. "The two lovebirds have returned."

"Emmett, what did I tell you?" Alice sighed as Bella grimaced.

Alice had warned her he would probably be insufferable about their coupling. Alice had also told her that initially her family had not been very warm towards their relationship, considering how things had ended with Jasper, but Emmett could never stay mad at her for long. He had been angry with her for hurting Jasper. It had been hard for all of them to see their brother break down like that the day it happened, but Emmett wasn't stupid despite his fronting, and he came around quickly once he saw how much it hurt Alice for him to be upset with her. Plus, he understood her reasoning once they talked it out.

Now he was back to being his usual goofy self, and Alice had told her that he fully supported them.

Especially the physical aspect of it, apparently.

"Hm, let me see if I can remember," Emmett drawled as Alice rolled her eyes at him and pulled Bella behind her into the house. "Something along the lines of you and little B here doing it, wasn't it?"

Bella blushed as Alice snorted and dragged them into the foyer.

"Emmett," Alice said in warning.

"What?" Emmett laughed, following after them with his big thumping footsteps as Bella was torn between embarrassment and amusement. "Hey Bella, I never knew you had it in you girl. Good going," he told her.

Bella flung a look at him over her shoulder as Alice made another noise of protest. When he winked at her, Bella couldn't help but grin.

She'd been mildly anxious after Alice told her that her family wasn't a hundred percent sure about their relationship, but Emmett was assuaging those worries. Obviously he loved Alice, and did not disapprove of them at all. She'd been especially worried about the big guy resenting her for hurting Jasper, because Emmett was like the big brother she never had and she would have hated for their friendship to be lost over this.

But nope.

Emmett was loving them together apparently, if the way he waggled his eyebrows at her playfully was any indication.

As much as his goofing made her blush, it also made a swell of affection fill her for him. Emmett's joking was his way of letting them know he was cool with it, and even though Bella didn't need his approval, it was nice to have it anyway.

"You're a perv," Bella chuckled as Alice pulled her into the living room, choosing to ignore Emmett.

"_I'm_ the perv?" Emmett gawked as Bella turned back around and saw the rest of the Cullens standing around.

Carlisle stood with his hands behind his back and Esme perched on the arm of the brand new couch next to him. Both the Cullen parents, Alice had told her, were okay with the relationship. They were of course extremely concerned over Jasper, but living as long as they had, they knew a little about love and the way it worked.

So thank God Bella didn't have to deal with those two hating her. That would have been unbearable. At least with Esme. Carlisle she could take, but not the sweet Cullen matron, who was quite possibly the only thing that ever kept her from getting heartsick over missing her own mother.

Rosalie, looking beautiful and haughty as ever, was leaned against Edward's new piano, considering Alice and Jasper had smashed the last one. The rest of the room was also fixed up with new furnishings. The mantle had been replaced as well as the front window, and the new glass coffee table was a nice addition to the room.

It was the new person Bella had never seen before, however, that caught her attention the most.

Standing under Edward's right arm to the left of Rosalie was a vampire Bella had never seen before. She had wavy, pale blond hair and delicate features, and sharp, intelligent golden eyes that watched Bella intently.

It didn't take a genius to figure out who she was. She was draped under Edward's arm with hers around his waist, and Bella knew instantly that she must be Tanya, the girl Edward had left her for in Denali.

Bella was surprised. Edward had been very secretive about her, and she'd not seen the elusive Alaskan dwelling vampire even though they were supposed to be very devoted to each other. She'd also gotten next to no details out of the private man, so she had certainly not expected to see her here. Something about the woman put her at unease, and she clung a little tighter to Alice's hand.

"At least Emmett didn't make the whole house smell like a brothel," Rosalie snarked before Emmett could make what undoubtedly would have been a much less venomous retort.

"Rosalie," Esme said warningly as Bella turned away from the piercing gaze of the stranger vampire.

She felt Alice tense, but at this point Bella had been expecting it. Alice had told her that unlike Emmett, Rosalie had only chilled towards her further after the fiasco with Jasper, which honestly didn't surprise her. Bella had not come here today expecting things to be anything less than frosty with the blond temptress, but it was still hard to deal with her barbs.

Why was Rosalie so weird and harsh towards her anyway? She'd jumped in front of Sophie for her in the cafeteria, then spun around and called her a coward, which Bella still didn't get. She'd also apologized after jumping her after Bella bit her, which was completely out of character for her.

Bella had all but given up on trying to understand her, and had gotten good at letting her remarks roll off her back, as annoying as they were. Alice, however, seemed to have gotten even worse at it.

"As if you two never have," Alice scoffed at her.

"We did once, when we were newborns. You're how old, Alice? A hundred and eight? What's your excuse?" Rosalie cocked her head as if in contemplation, and Bella felt more than saw Alice tense.

"If you hated it so much, care to explain why you walked around with your eyes black and looking a second away from jumping Emmett all day?" Alice said back sweetly.

Bella's eyebrows shot up as Rosalie scowled immediately. It was not like Alice to be drawn into arguments with Rosalie so easily, but she supposed it must have something to do with her instincts.

And besides. Even Alice had her breaking points. Rosalie had been working on it for a long time, really. Thankfully, Esme intervened as Bella squirmed uncomfortably.

"Girls," she barked, and they both stopped glaring at each other to look over at her. "That's enough. I expect better from you, especially in front of our guest. Edward, would you introduce her please?"

_Why do you do this Rosalie?_ She wondered, and ignored the fact that Rosalie's glare transferred onto her a moment later, almost as if she'd heard her.

"Of course," Edward spoke up, and stepped forward. "Bella, this is Tanya. Tanya, this is Isabella."

Her assumptions were correct. Tanya met her eyes steadily, and Bella felt even more uncomfortable meeting hers. They were very sharp eyes, and if Bella looked closely, she thought she saw a faint sheen of red over the gold in them.

"Hello," Tanya inclined her head towards her, expressionless, and made no further move to greet her.

Alright.

This was fucking awkward.

Edward had pretty much dumped her for this chick, and though Bella was long over any resentment over that, it was still _weird_. Surely Tanya knew how things had ended between them, and she had no idea how the vampire felt about all of it. She also knew nothing about her because Edward was a prickly bastard about telling her anything.

"Hey," Bella waved awkwardly at her with her free hand, and faintly heard Rosalie scoff.

Bitch.

Okay, maybe she hadn't gotten so good at letting them roll of her back. Bella fought to ignore the fact that she was becoming rankled by Rosalie's hostility. She was just so relentless in it. As if Bella did not have enough to deal with.

"I apologize for not being around to meet you before," Tanya said to Bella's surprise. "The Cullen's diet is one I have not partaken in a while. I wanted to be sure I could be as safe around you as they are."

Ah. That explained some of it. At least it explained why Edward didn't talk about her much. He always did have a problem talking to Bella about their more natural dietary tendencies. Bella couldn't deny that she was thankful for that. It made her inclined to like Tanya a little more despite how weird this all felt.

_She can't be too bad if she's determined not to eat me, at least. _

Rosalie, however, made another discontented noise.

"I'm sorry, did you have something to say?" Tanya finally towards her. Her voice was slightly clipped, and Bella felt the tension in the room rise further.

She also gained some respect instantly for Tanya when she had the balls to call out a girl like Rosalie so fearlessly. She was making no moves to hide her slight irritation with Rosalie's huffing and puffing. Maybe Tanya wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Oh, I've got _plenty_," Rosalie cooed back at the Denali woman, eyes flashing, clearly disliking her tone.

Still…Tanya should probably watch herself. Rosalie was not one to be messed with, at least in Bella's opinion.

"Not that any of you would listen anyway," Rosalie snapped, and her gaze shot straight to Carlisle.

Carlisle did not take well to that.

"Rosalie, if you insist on acting like this, I must ask you to leave," he said in a voice that Bella rarely heard from him. It was his angry patriarch voice, and Bella knew he only used it when his adopted children were truly testing his patience. "You are being incredibly rude, not only to your family, but to two of our guests."

The rolling of Rosalie's eyes told him what she thought of that, but she stood up swiftly, her jaw locking.

"Well, excuse me. Wouldn't want to be rude to our guests, would I? But it's really just one now, isn't it? Alice already sealed the deal with the human, as we all know by the stench still lingering around. Isn't that just _fantastic_?" Rosalie bit out, and blurred across the room where she stopped next to a startled Bella just long enough to hiss, "_Welcome to the family_. I'm sure you'll fit right in, as long as you don't die first."

Alice didn't even get the chance to growl at her before Rosalie disappeared out of the room.

_Well, isn't she just a big ball of sunshine_, Bella thought sarcastically, and everyone in the room looked to Edward when he let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Their eyes met, and she was comforted by the slight grin she saw in the corners of his mouth.

Sometimes Edward really irritated her, but then she remembered the subtle sense of humor they shared, and remembered why she didn't mind the occasional annoyances.

Emmett did not go after her. Bella knew it was because he knew his girl well. Sometimes when Rosalie pitched one of her fits, he would, and sometimes he wouldn't. He'd learned to read her well enough to know when Rosalie would accept his company, and when she would tell him to go eat dirt and leave her alone.

_Why does she have to be so terrible?_ Bella wondered, resisting the urge to rub at her temples in frustration. _What did I ever do to her, really? I've always tried to be nice to her. I just don't get it…_

"Okay then!" Esme clapped her hands into the ensuing awkward silence. "Carlisle, why don't we get started? We've got a lot to tell Bella, remember?"

It did the trick. Carlisle stirred and turned back to them, having been staring after his daughter with an unreadable expression.

"Ah, yes, my apologies. Bella, are you ready to hear what we've discovered after our little-er, experiment?"

_Definitely_, she thought. _It's about freaking time. Forget Rosalie. This is what really matters. _

Once Alice had really confirmed that she was going to finally get to find out what was up with her bite this weekend, she'd been dying to know.

"Yeah, totally," she nodded, only slightly apprehensive.

Alice rubbed at her shoulder soothingly, and Bella gave her a gentle smile for it. She ignored Emmett when he smirked at her again.

"You guys gonna kiss?" he said hopefully.

"Only when you're not looking," Alice shot back, and most of the tension Rosalie had left broke as he pouted and everyone chuckled. Alice smirked and Emmett grinned at her, and Bella just shook her head to hide her smile.

_I'll take his jokes any day over them resenting me_, Bella thought. _Anything but them hating me. They're pretty much my second family, besides Rosalie. And Jasper…God, I hope I can make it right with him someday…_

Fresh guilt filled her as she remembered the blonde man whose love she had effectively sneaked out from under him, and she wished for the thousandth time to somehow make it better, though there was no way to really do that.

Maybe someday…

But now was definitely not the time to be focusing on that.

"Alright then," Carlisle said with a hint of a smile on his face. "Well then, let's get right into it. Bella, you are aware that I've run quite a few tests on Rosalie, correct?"

"Yes," Bella confirmed, and leaned into Alice naturally when the vampire leaned into her. Everyone in the room was listening. Though the Cullens had a better idea of what those tests were and what they'd revealed to Carlisle, even they did not have the full story. Only Carlisle had had the chance to fully delve into his work and figure it all out.

"I must inform you that there is only so much science can do for us here. As much as I can use it to learn about our kind and what you are capable of, some things are simply without valid explanation…In essence, we will have to leave some of it to the supernatural," Carlisle warned her.

_Ugh, okay, okay, fine. Just get to it!_ Bella shuffled impatiently and nodded again. _I just want to know._

Carlisle must have sensed her impatience, because he hurried on.

"The tests I ran on Rosalie after you bit her were designed to figure out what exactly you'd done to her. The results were startling. You already know that your bite has the ability to make us starkly human, and we discovered that bites in quicker succession make the effects more pronounced, and we knew that it caused a defensive reaction in us in the form of pheromones. Forgive me for bringing up the uncomfortable memory, but I believe Rosalie was spurred into kissing you, because not only do we blast out pheromones defensively, but we do so offensively as well. Crippling you by seduction is not an unusual assault method for a vampire to a human."

"We already know all this, dad," Emmett complained. "Victoria used hers to make Bella all hot and bothered, didn't she? We know we can do that. What's the point?"

Alice bristled at that, but Bella squeezed her hand and she quieted. Privately, she agreed with Emmett. She wanted him to get to the point. And Emmett to shut up about Victoria.

"What I'm getting at is the fact that Rosalie jumped on Bella because her bite literally _attacks_ our entire system," Carlisle elaborated. "Bella, you do not merely give us human _qualities_, you _literally_ make us human again. Within three days of the bite, I was actually able to draw blood from Rosalie."

Every vampire in the room started, and Bella cocked her head, eyes wide.

"How?" she frowned. "I thought you guys didn't bleed!"

"We don't, Bella. All the blood cells in our systems not taken by a vampire are destroyed by the venom when we're changed. All we have left is the black remains, which are only even seen if you manage to break through our skin and hit the vulnerable flesh left beneath. Rosalie's change was much more extreme than Alice's. Her skin softened. She bruised when she banged into things, unable to cope with her new lack of grace. So I guessed correctly, and put a needle into her skin. When I drew her blood, it was as red and healthy as any human's."

Bella's breath came a little slower and Carlisle now held the room at complete attention.

_She could bleed? I made her capable of bleeding? _

Bella glanced at Alice out of the corner of her eye, and Alice squeezed her hand reassuringly, though she was listening raptly.

"Not only that, but Rosalie also began to need oxygen. She had to breathe, and not merely out of habit. I believe the saliva of your bite sinks through even our impenetrable skin and…It _cures_ us," Carlisle murmured, eyes bright as he explained the workings of his mind.

"It touches everything that was destroyed, and brings it back to life. The tissues of her lungs, her heart, her muscles…It changed _back_. Rosalie even developed a heartbeat, so soft _I_ couldn't even hear it without a stethoscope. She even experienced hunger pangs, for food and not blood. She stayed like this so long that I feared she would become malnourished and fed her human sustenance. Rosalie was able to keep it down without vomiting. She even had to use the bathroom," Carlisle continued, surprising Bella more and more with every word.

That was way more than what she'd done to Alice…

"Which we all know she thought was disgusting, as she let the whole house know five minutes later. I don't think I've ever seen Rose so horrified," Alice said, sounding on the verge of laughter, which made Bella wrinkle her nose.

_Gross._

"But it doesn't last," Carlisle hurried on, presumably to cut off whatever toilet joke Emmett looked on the verge of making by the smirk on his face. "Your bite is not strong enough to keep us human. The venom in our cells is too powerful, and it destroys us all over again. It ripped back through her cells, and Rosalie became a vampire once more, which is why I don't think that your bite is really permanent. Even if you were to repeatedly bite a vampire, over and over and over, I think eventually we would still return to our vampiric selves."

Bella stared at him, trying to understand everything he was saying. All the vampires in the room were digesting it as silently as she was. They had seen the effects on Rosalie, but only now was Carlisle revealing the full scope of them.

She had known her bite could make vampires _like_ a human…But what Carlisle was saying was different. Rosalie had not merely been weakened so that she was still a vampire, but without all the power that came with it.

She had virtually _become_ human again, completely.

And that was a very drastic thing indeed.

_What the hell is in my mouth that does that?_ Bella wondered uncertainly. _What am I, vampire antivenom? What the crap?_

"Why does my bite do that?" Bella asked curiously, wary of the answer. But Carlisle only shrugged.

"I do not know the answer to that, Bella. That is one of the things that we simply cannot know. Why can Edward read minds? Why can Alice see the future? It is supernatural, I suppose. Like I said," Carlisle replied.

Oh. Well that was entirely unhelpful.

She felt like he'd told her everything, and nothing at all at the same time.

"So what does all that mean Carlisle?" Bella inquired uncertainly.

Carlisle hesitated and exchanged a glance with Esme. Almost instantly Alice stiffened as Bella's stomach did a curious dip at it.

_Here we go again with the looks. What are they keeping from me?_

"Carlisle, do the Volturi know any of this?" Alice demanded suddenly.

And what were they keeping from Alice too, apparently?

Carlisle sighed, and Bella felt a cold chill run up her spine when he answered.

"Yes," he said. "You know that we had to send them the results…And they're not pleased with them, Alice. They don't like what they're seeing here."

"What have they said?" Edward spoke up, and folded his arms across his chest. He was taking on his brooding look, suggesting his worry, which did not soothe Bella in the slightest. Edward was a worrywart all the time, yes, but usually when it came to her safety it was for a good reason. He was second to caring for her safety only to Alice (and her dad).

Again, Carlisle looked to his wife for support as everyone in the room tensed up, and Alice let go of her hand to step forward. Feeling vulnerable now, Bella wrapped her arms around herself as Alice caught her mother's eye.

"Esme? What did they say?" Alice inquired. Her voice did not waver, but Bella still heard the way it rose just slightly.

Bella waited on tiptoes, and stared at the Cullen matriarch anxiously, waiting as Esme shifted on the couch and uncrossed her legs, then crossed them again, hesitating.

_Just say it! _She thought desperately.

The anticipation was going to kill her! Hell, this really couldn't be good if this was how they were acting about it!

"The Volturi have decided that Bella must be changed within the fortnight…Or be executed," Esme revealed in a rush, and Bella's stomach turned to ice.

Oh…

Shit.

"_What_?" Alice reared back as if slapped as the only human in the room inhaled sharply.

"You've got to be shitting me," Emmett snapped and Esme snapped back, "Language."

"They can't do that," Edward broke in, his voice darkening as he stood up straight, fists clenching.

"Everyone," Carlisle raised his hand in attempt for their attention, but it wasn't happening.

"They actually can," Tanya interjected, though without malice. "It is within the right of the law. And since when have the Volturi ever left anything to chance? Certainly letting Bella live or stay human right now leaves everything to chance…"

Bella felt any respect for her drop off the face of the earth, however true her words might have been.

"I'd like to see them try!" Emmett bowed up with a growl.

"I wouldn't," Edward scowled. "I _really_ wouldn't. This is bad, Emmett. Really bad."

"We can take them-"

"No, you can't," Tanya interrupted. "They'd destroy you, little boy."

Emmett took extreme offense to that, but Alice beat him to it.

"It's not happening," Alice snarled at all of them, and turned to meet Bella's eyes with her own dark and blazing. "It's. Not. _Happening_."

Her voice didn't shake, but her hands did, and for the first time in her life, Alice's words did not reassure Bella, but only solidified her fear.

_Alice is scared. She's never afraid of anything. So if Alice is scared…Edward was right. This is bad. Really bad. The Volturi want me dead…Or undead. _

Alice must have sensed her growing fears, because she took a step towards her, reaching for her.

"It is. And there is nothing you can do to stop it," Tanya frowned at Alice. "Don't be so vapid."

"_Vapid_?" Alice scoffed and whirled on her, ire flaring immediately. "Who are you to even get a say in any of this? You are here only on Edward's account, so stay out of it!"

"All I am saying is the truth. I have dealt with the Volturi before. There is no way to stop them," Tanya stated, unoffended and quite calm, though her eyes did narrow as Alice fumed.

"We can run," Edward suggested quickly. "We could hide her-"

"Like hell am I running from anyone!" Emmett barked. "If they come calling, we _fight_. We're not afraid to protect our own, Tanya. And Bella is one of us."

Oh, Emmett. Affection rushed up in Bella for him, even as her stomach turned to a tangled knot of writhing, anxious snakes.

"Emmett, don't be stupid. You'll get not only Bella killed, but the rest of us as well," Edward scowled, which made Emmett glare at him furiously.

"Everyone, please calm down," Carlisle attempted to calm the escalating situation, but it was for naught.

"She will die either way," Tanya shrugged, and Bella found it suddenly hard to swallow. "To run or to hide or to fight, it makes no difference. She will be one of us, or she will die. She might even die afterwards, depending on what the Volturi decide."

And the whole room dissolved into a yelling match as Emmett and Alice turned on Tanya and began shouting furiously, while Edward met their raised voices with his own, and Tanya finally stirred to anger and began to yell, too. Carlisle and Esme rushed between all of them and tried futilely to calm everyone and divert what looked to be an impending physical brawl when Emmett poked Edward hard in the chest and got shoved back by his brother as Alice looked a second away from slapping Tanya across the mouth.

Bella could only watch helplessly, clinging to herself.

_I don't want to die_, Bella thought, breath hitching. _But they're all acting like it's seconds away from happening. Am I going to die? Are these Volturi going to kill me? I don't want to die! I'm only eighteen! I don't know if I even want to be a vampire! This isn't fair…I never asked for any of this. I never hurt anybody. Why is this happening? Why are the Volturi being like this? And why the fuck does everyone have to scream at each other? I can't think. I can't even hear myself think. Stop…I just need it all to _stop_!_

Bella had enough. It all became too much, much too fast. The yelling, her pounding heart, the sudden, imminent sensation of death looming overhead…

"STOP!" Bella cried, hands going up to her head. The volume of her own voice startled her, but it worked.

Every vampire in the room halted and turned to her, their eyes shades darker than before. The whole room felt hot and uncomfortable and stifling, and Bella felt like it was getting hard to breathe. She knew the feeling. When she was little, she suffered from anxiety attacks frequently, and though she hadn't had one in what felt like years, she recognized it well.

The desperation to stave off the panic attack building in her made her say what she said next.

"I need-I need air. I just need a minute," she breathed, lowering her hands. "I-I…"

Bella lurched for the stairs, trembling, and Alice appeared in front of her and grasped her hands.

"Bella," she whispered, and it killed the brunette to see her lover's eyes shining. "Hey, stop. Hang on, I'm sorry. We shouldn't be fighting. Don't-"

"Alice, I can't-"

"Just stay, I'm sorry. You need to-"

"Alice, _stop_!" Bella gasped, and with a huge effort, she wrenched her hands out of Alice's.

Alice drew back, looking surprised, and then completely hurt in a way that made a huge rush of guilt and shame flood Bella. She wasn't trying to hurt Alice. She just needed to get out of this room, needed to be able to be alone for a minute to process, to keep herself together.

"I'm sorry," Bella muttered immediately. "Don't-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…I just need a minute, Alice. I'll be right back, I just…I need to be alone for a second, okay?"

In a desperate attempt to make up for snapping at her, Bella flung her arms around Alice's neck and squeezed.

_Don't be mad_, she thought. _Please just understand. _

It was a foreign concept for one of them to need to be away from the other, even briefly, to feel better for whatever reason. It hurt, the way it took Alice a few seconds to respond, but she did respond.

"Okay," Alice murmured, voice soft in Bella's ear, and hesitantly embraced her back. "Okay, if…If that's what you need…"

Of course, Alice would give her anything she needed. Even if that meant she had to fight off her own natural urge to keep Bella right at her side.

Bella swallowed, feeling awful for hurting Alice in any way, but still staving off an anxiety attack.

_I don't want to die. _

Bella took a deep breath of the scent of white chocolate and berries, kissed Alice's cool cheek, and then darted past her and up the stairs to the sound of dead silence. Her legs felt numb and heavy as she trotted down the hall.

_The Volturi want me dead_, she thought. _But I do not want to die._

The walls felt like they were closing in, and Bella turned and rushed down the hall, feeling as if an entire train was pressing down on her chest.

_Breathe_, she thought. _Just breathe. I need to breathe. Air. I need air!_

Mindlessly, Bella rushed into the upstairs drawing room, ripped open the balcony door, and flung herself outside, feeling cool air blast her cheeks.

The relief was almost immediate, but she still sucked in oxygen hungrily, greedily, as if it were the only medicine that could stave off the anxiety pooling in her chest and stomach. It pretty much was. She stared out into the forest as stars twinkled overhead and fireflies fluttered around, oblivious to her predicament. Bella clung to the balcony railing and hung her head over it.

_Breathe. Just breathe…_

Slowly, Bella calmed. Her lungs inflated, and her chest stopped heaving, returned to a normal slow rise and fall, steady.

Her eyes were burning, but Bella didn't feel much like crying. The cold air felt like it had soothed the fire in her brain, and for a long minute, she just closed her eyes and tried to relax.

A voice to her left ruined any chance of that.

"Are you alright?"

Bella yelped and jumped and turned to see Rosalie Hale gazing at her expressionlessly, glimmering faintly in the moonlight.

"What-I don't-"

_Holy shit,_ Bella internally freaked, running a hand through her hair in shock. _I didn't even see her standing there! _

Embarrassed, Bella's cheeks flamed as she realized Rosalie had seen her gaping and gasping for air like a fish out of water.

"Are you alright?" Rosalie repeated slowly, enunciating each word clearly. She did not say it meanly, but then she didn't say it nicely either. Why was she asking anyway? It's not like she cared…

Rosalie was leaned against the balcony just a foot away from Bella, and the human had to wonder how she'd missed a girl like Rosalie.

Sneaky vampires. Was she standing there the whole time?

"I'm-I don't know," Bella shuffled, her voice cracking so that she had to clear it. She wiped at her eyes quickly when she felt a few stray tears threaten to fall, and tried to convince her heart that it was better off not slamming into her chest like that.

Just when she was calming down, Rosalie had to scare the mess out of her.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked helplessly, immediately becoming defensive in the girl's presence. Where Rosalie went, humiliation was sure to follow.

"I should be asking you that. I was here first after all," Rosalie hitched an eyebrow at her. "Enjoying the night, and then here you come…Ruining it."

Why did she ever bother to ask if Bella was alright? Probably because if she wasn't, it would give her another chance to kick the human while she was down, which was one of her favorite pastimes.

Bella's breathing was slowly trying to get back to normal, and she ignored the mild jab. So yes, Rosalie had been there the whole time, watching her stave off a breakdown.

Great.

She debated turning around and going back in, but she still felt like being inside would crush her. Only the mass expanse of the outside world was soothing her anxiety right now, and it helped that even Rosalie could not be worse than a death threat by the Volturi.

"Sorry," she muttered instead, and leaned both arms onto the balcony so she could drop her head into them and avoid Rosalie's piercing gaze. She seemed to have two settings; apathetic, and pissed off. Bella supposed apathy was the better of the two. "But I'm not alright. I won't be long…I just needed a breather."

At this, Rosalie gave a soft snort.

"I'd say I told you so, but it's kind of a moot point by now," Rosalie said. Then, "But what the hell, I've been waiting to say it since the day you walked in. I _told_ you so."

Bella glanced at her, and part of her wanted to know what Rosalie thought she'd told her, and then a bigger part of her said it didn't matter. Attempting to get answers out of Rosalie always switched the blond to bitch mode quickly, so she opted not to respond, and Rosalie seemed just fine with that.

There was silence after that. It wasn't even uncomfortable necessarily, but it was weird. Rosalie didn't say anything else to her, and did not attempt to embarrass her by making fun of her near panic attack, and she certainly didn't say a word about the shouting match she undoubtedly could have heard going on before. She didn't ask about the Volturi, or try and make Bella feel worse, she didn't say a word.

It continued this way for five minutes, and Bella was actually able to close her eyes in Rosalie's presence and just breathe, as she'd told herself to do. It helped a little.

Still, curiosity naturally got the best of her. She stood upright and glanced at Rosalie again, who was staring up at the sky with her face blank and completely ignoring her presence.

This was unusual behavior for Rosalie, to say the least. Bella didn't understand it. Normally Rosalie would have been doing her damndest to reduce Bella to tears by now, which probably would have worked considering her state.

But no, Rosalie wasn't even bothering to acknowledge her anymore.

Why was the girl so strange? And _mean_? Bella couldn't deny the curiosity that burned through her. She understood most things about her odd life. She pretty much understood vampires being real. She understood the Cullens, and Alice, and she mostly understood herself, even the frightening Volturi. Werewolves even, she got.

But not Rosalie. She had no inkling as to why Rosalie was the way she was towards her, or everyone else.

Somehow that soothing silence became suffocating, but Bella could not bring herself to go back in and face her reality just yet.

Rosalie noticed her staring, and turned to stare back with one eyebrow raised up.

The silence was awkweird beyond anything and Bella found herself drumming her fingers nervously on the railing, eyes flickering around to the forest, then to Rosalie who stared at her like the insignificant bug she thought the brunette to be, the balcony door behind her, and then back to Rosalie.

The Volturi or Rosalie? Which one, which one should she pick?

_I don't want to die…_

"Sooo…" Bella drawled uncomfortably, unable to stand it anymore. "Did you like being human?"

Rosalie must have taken that wrong some-fucking-how because her golden eyes flashed.

"No. Are you having fun being a raging lesbian?" Rosalie snapped.

Irritation blossomed in her chest at the unnecessary snide comment when she was only trying to be polite.

Rosalie's unusual silence had been the only respite Bella was going to get from her attitude, and now that Bell had stupidly breached the silence and even more stupidly expected civility, that respite was gone. However, Bella grew angry almost immediately, spurred by her already agitated state.

She'd really just had enough of everything lately. Just like she was done backing down from Cassie, she no longer had it in her to just take the shit Rosalie kept shoveling at her all the time, no matter how nice she tried to be, even when the Volturi wanted her life.

"Why do you have to be like that?" Bella huffed.

"Because you're an idiot."

For God's _sake_.

Bella felt her eye twitch and she took a deep breath. She counted to ten, twice, but it didn't work.

"What is your _problem_?" Bella blurted angrily, gripping the railing tighter in her hands.

She was not walking on thin ice. She was skipping and hopping and stomping on it.

Fuck it. Why not? The Volturi were probably going to kill her anyway, by the way the Cullens were acting. Might as well find out what Rosalie's deal was before she went.

Wow. Bella never realized how much of a pessimist she was.

"My problem is _you_. I didn't like being human at all, so thanks for that little experience," Rosalie snapped at her again.

"You _volunteered_ to be bitten," Bella reminded her, a million retorts rushing to her brain in her ire.

Why was Rosalie being this way? Why did she apologize after she jumped Bella? Why did she jump in front of Sophie for her? Why did she ask if Bella was okay, and then she always turned around to act like this all over again?

"I didn't volunteer to get stuck out here with you though, did I?" Rosalie scoffed. "I'd rather volunteer to jump off a bridge."

Nonstop. She just didn't quit, _ever_.

And right then and there, all of Bella's confusion and frustration melted into one big rush of exasperation, and she snapped.

"And I didn't volunteer to get _molested_ by you, but you still fucking did it, didn't you?" Bella snarled. "I didn't ask to be stuck here any more than you did, and I have no clue what is going on, and now the Volturi are out to get me, and you're the one making it worse by being a _bitch_ to me for no reason! What did I ever _do_ to you?"

No more. She had had enough. People could only take so much.

Her words, though, made Rosalie's sneer slip into a patented glare that could melt glass and cut through steel. Bella, however, was not having it. She did not back down, and squared her shoulders, stomach twisting with confrontation.

"You haven't seen me be a bitch yet, but call me one again and you will," Rosalie threatened, standing up straighter.

Okay.

So maybe Bella did back down a little.

Rosalie was freaking scary.

"You want to know what you did to me? You _existed_. You walked into this life, clinging to vampires like you were untouchable, always flouncing around like you're so perfect and invincible when you're not. _That's_ what you did to me," Rosalie ground out through clenched teeth, and Bella looked at her, affronted.

"What are you talking about?" she said, having no idea what the blonde was on about now.

"You really don't get it, do you?" Rosalie growled, making Bella feel as stupid as the blonde thought she was.

"_No_, obviously. I tried to be nice to you, and then you were terrible to me, but even when I ignored you, you still don't _ever_ back off of me. Why do you hate me so much?" Bella responded irately. "I never spited you or wronged you or anything. I barely said two words to you but from the moment we've met you've treated me like crap. I don't know why you hate me so much, but Jesus Christ, Rosalie, why-"

"_Because_!" Rosalie exploded, leaning forward and grasping the railing in one hand. Bella reared back as she got a whiff of apples and pine trees. "Because Bella, I'm trying to make you _wake up_. You are so goddamn stubborn it makes me want to _scream_."

Gritting her teeth, Bella ignored the pheromones threatening to come over her and stood her ground. She barely noticed that Rosalie used her first name.

Maybe she had been looking for a fight. It felt too good to go off on someone, so maybe she had only been holding in all her emotion, and Rosalie was the perfect scapegoat for her problems.

"I don't know what that means," she growled, crossing her arms defensively.

"Of course you don't. How could you? You're so oblivious-you're so _stupid_," Rosalie huffed. "You want to know why I volunteered so readily for this?"

Perplexed at the change of pace and all the sense Rosalie refused to make, Bella only scowled at her.

Rosalie answered her own question.

"I volunteered for this because I know what it is to appreciate being _human_. That's something you seem to be unable to do no matter what. You want to know why I treat you the way I do? Because I _hate_ you. I _hate_ that you were dumb enough to put your life in the hands of my family because half the time all of us are thinking about what it would be like to rip your throat out, and you don't seem to get that," Rosalie ranted, really going off now.

"You act like it's no big deal that three vampires have jumped you now, me included. You walk around us like your life isn't constantly in danger. You don't care about it at all. You're pretty much throwing it away keeping company with _vampires_," she continued, sounding totally fired up.

"Two of those were accidents. And I made Alice jump me. It wasn't her fault," Bella defended her friend uneasily, starting to dislike the direction the argument was taking.

"Oh, please, don't give me that," Rosalie snapped. "Alice probably thinks about humping you silly every time you bat your big brown doe eyes at her. Her jumping you was going to happen eventually whether you bit her or not."

"So what's _your_ excuse?" Bella retorted furiously, blushing brightly despite herself.

"That's exactly my point, Swan!" Rosalie said, gesturing wildly with her hands. "I don't even _like_ you and I couldn't even stop myself from trying to stick my tongue down your throat or my teeth in it! You are constantly in danger around us and I'm the only one who seems to acknowledge it. I'm a bitch to you because I was _trying_ to put you off. I treat you like this so maybe you won't want to come around so much. I _hate_ you so you'll wake up and realize how stupid you're being with your life. You've only got one and I know what it's like to lose it. I was trying to keep you from losing yours too, but you are so infuriatingly nice and determined to think everything can be happy rainbows and sunshine if you keep it that way no matter how badly I treat you."

Bella took a deep breath, but Rosalie beat her to it. She had a feeling Rosalie had been holding all this in for a long time.

"And now it's too late. So stop acting so _fucking_ surprised that you could die. I hate that shocked look, like you can't believe only _now_ that you could lose your life by associating with us. It's been like that from the very start," Rosalie snapped.

"I don't believe that," Bella muttered, voice barely above a whisper now. "I'm not afraid of you, Rosalie, or your family. None of you would ever hurt me."

At this, Rosalie lost it.

"Are you _serious_?"

Bella yelped as Rosalie blurred right in front of her. She shrank back with a gasp as Rosalie bore down on her and clasped the railing in both hands on either side of Bella and trapped her in. She leaned back, the bar biting into her as she had to look almost straight up when Rosalie towered over her.

Uh oh.

"We already _have_ hurt you!" Rosalie hissed, glaring down on her as Bella squirmed uncomfortably.

Too close for comfort was an understatement. Bella tried not to freak, and tried to remember that Rosalie could be kind of dramatic sometimes.

Yet this was an entirely differently level of 'dramatic.'

"Alice _bit_ you. She could have _killed_ you. We've dragged you into a mess with the Volturi by bringing you into this life, for God's sake, and you still don't believe we're bad for you?" Rosalie growled, and leaned in closer, so that Bella shrank even further, clutching the vertical rails that supported the horizontal one Rosalie was clinging to.

_Why did I have to open my stupid mouth?_ She thought.

"You think we won't hurt you?" Rosalie murmured in a voice like molten steel, eyes flashing."You think that _I_ won't hurt you? You're so _stupid_ Bella. I could hurt you right now if I wanted to."

"You won't," Bella said, her voice cracking, and she wasn't so sure when Rosalie continued on as if she hadn't even heard her.

_She won't. Rosalie's a lot of things, but she's not like that. I don't believe it. She's just trying to scare me._

Bella was starting to understand, slowly but surely, what Rosalie's issues were.

"So easily. I could kill you," Rosalie declared. "I could bend your back over this rail and snap it like a twig. I could tear your throat out with my teeth, or the flick of my nails. I could rip your heart out while it's still beating, and make you watch…"

Bella could hear the strangely feverish quality of Rosalie's tone, and she understood, as if an epiphany had hit her, that Rosalie was desperately trying to frighten her.

This was Rosalie's desperate attempt to scare her, and Bella knew why with a startling clarity.

"I could do _worse_," Rosalie hissed, and Bella tensed when she felt Rosalie's lithe, curving body press into her own.

"I could take you, right now. I could _rape_ you, Bella. I could do whatever I want to you, right now, and you couldn't do anything to stop me. I could touch you, anywhere I want, however I want, any way I please, and there would be _nothing_ you could do about it," Rosalie rumbled, and Bella was acutely aware of their breasts pressing together, Rosalie's scent, the puff of her breath, the proximity of their lips.

This, however, was taking it too far. But by the brightness of Rosalie's flickering eyes, she knew the blond was determined to make her see what she saw. Every word was a ploy. She didn't mean any of it. She was saying anything to get a reaction out of Bella, make her understand. And Bella did understand, more than Rosalie ever wanted her to.

She angled her head away, and shook it, feeling the pheromones on the air.

If this had been a time before she and Alice fell in love, she would have been thrilled. If she was still vulnerable to anyone but the girl she loved, she might have been tempted, might have been aroused. It's not like Rosalie was ugly. In fact, she was one of the most beautiful people Bella had ever met, save for her own lover.

But the expression on Rosalie's face, the reasons behind what she was doing, and Alice, Alice, Alice, made Bella very, very calm.

"I am not afraid of you," Bella said softly, clearly.

Rosalie reared back, and Bella saw her swallow. She looked down on Bella as if just noticing how close they were, and then shoved abruptly away from her with a scoff.

"Of course you're not. I forgot, you'd like that, wouldn't you? You sure loved it when it was Victoria, at least."

Bella was not perturbed, nor distracted. Rosalie saw this, and seemed to be immediately defensive. She was all worked up, but as she saw that her intimidation tactics weren't working, she pursed her lips and for the first time in Bella's life, she looked away first.

_There's something deeper here, a reason why that she's not telling me…There has to be a bigger reason why she thinks the way she does._

"What happened to you, Rosalie?" Bella inquired quietly, folding her arms protectively over her chest as Rosalie licked her lips and avoided her eyes.

"Nothing happened to me. What the fuck makes you think-"

"Something must have," Bella continued as if she hadn't spoken, which seemed to stun Rosalie silent, that Bella dared to interrupt her. "Something must have made you like this, made you feel the way you do. What was it?"

Rosalie's eyes locked on hers, and for the longest moment Bella swore she was going to turn and run, or slap her, or simply say nothing it at all.

Then she spoke.

"You want to know what happened to me?" Rosalie ground out through clenched teeth. "_Fine_. I'll tell you. I was _raped_, Bella. Not only that, I was gang raped. Four men, not just one. Do you have any idea-"

Oh no. It was every woman's worst fear…She had not expected that, never thought…Not to Rosalie, of all people, so haughty and untouchable by the world, invincible in her armor of hate and anger.

Bella's stomach dropped, and she knew that hearing this was going to hurt the moment she saw Rosalie's eyes shining. But…Rosalie was telling her. She was finally going to know why Rosalie was the way she was.

"No…You don't. You couldn't possibly know how that felt. And I never want you to. I never want _anyone_ to feel that kind of pain. That's how I was changed. They left me bloody and broken, and then Carlisle changed me into this, and made me _like_ them. And I _hate_ it!" Rosalie shouted, hands clenching.

_How-_

Rosalie answered her unspoken question.

"He made me like those men. He took my _humanity_. I would rather have _died_. They didn't feel remorse. They didn't care when I screamed or cried or begged. They didn't feel anything like sympathy or compassion. They were coldblooded, unfeeling, inhuman. Those men weren't human; they were _monsters_. And now I am too," Rosalie anguished, and grit her teeth when Bella's face screwed up in compassion.

"Rosalie…No," Bella whispered.

_How could she possibly think…How could they do that to her? That's so sick, and awful, but how could she ever think she's like those bastards that did that to her, in any way? _

"Yes," Rosalie snarled at her, but her voice was choked up. "I'm a _vampire_, Bella. And that's what we are. Lifeless, inhuman. We revel in bloodlust and live every day wanting to kill and fight or fuck and feed. We slaughter animals and would slaughter humans to live, and _like_ it, too. It is all we are now. That's what my family is. That's what you live with. And I never wanted that to happen to you. I don't want you to end up like me, or like us, and now it's too late. I tried to scare you away, but you're so damn-so stubbornly stupid and nice, and oblivious…You are everything we are not, Bella, everything we want to be. Sweet, innocent, loving, kind, compassionate. I can see it in your eyes even now, even towards me, someone you should hate."

"Rosalie," Bella breathed, and the strongest feeling of compassion filled her at the deep, soul sucking ache she could see that had obviously been tearing Rosalie apart for a long, long time, probably from the moment she was changed.

_Has she felt this way every moment? Has she been hurting all this time? Oh, Rosalie, it's no wonder you treated me like this. She doesn't _hate_ me. She's terrified I'm going to end up just like her. But she's wrong. She's so fucking wrong. _

"You're wrong," Bella told her quietly, and hurried on when Rosalie's eyes predictably flashed in anger.

"You're so wrong, Rosalie. What they did to you was terrible, but how could you ever think you are _anything_ like them? You're _not_. And that's because you can't possibly be a heartless monster if you care that you feel like this. You can't be heartless if it hurts you to feel these instincts. You can't be soulless or inhumane if it kills you like this, and if you fight it with everything you have the way that you and your whole family do."

"Bella, we're not-"

But Bella cut her off again.

"And you act like all 'humans' are good. Not all of us are good, the same way not all vampires are good. Some humans aren't really _human_ at all. Those men that did that to you-they weren't. They don't have the qualities that make them a person. They are the real monsters. But you? You're not. Because you do your best to be a good person, and that in itself makes you good at heart. You fight your instincts with everything you have to do that."

Rosalie still looked fit to protest, so Bella said the one last thing she could.

"Rosalie, you never _stopped_ being human. You just _started_ being…Something more."

This was enough. Rosalie inhaled sharply, and looked as if Bella had slapped her.

_I never knew_, Bella thought, staring at Rosalie in a whole new light._ I never knew she felt like this. Does her family even know? Does Emmett? Has anyone ever known the way you feel Rosalie, known why you're so angry all the time? Have you ever told them? I get it now…I get why you were so desperate to scare me away._

None of that meant Bella agreed with her in the slightest. That was not who or what the Cullens were. They weren't soulless monsters that went around killing, or God forbid raping, joyfully reveling in some of their more base or violent instincts.

They resisted the worse of their impulses, as humans do, because they were immoral, and wrong, and tried to be the best they could. That's all anyone could ever do, and if Rosalie thought they were all monsters because they had it a little harder, then she was wrong.

She was just plain _wrong_.

They were both quiet for a long time after that, and Bella let it be, knowing Rosalie was pulling herself together. She knew that when the blond finally met her eyes again, that she was not the only one seeing the other in a new light.

"You asked me if I liked being human," Rosalie murmured softly, in a civil tone Bella had never quite heard from her before. "It's funny…When I learned of what you could do, I was thrilled. I thought I had a chance to be what I was before. Human. But…"

She laughed a mirthless laugh and shook her head.

"But I _hated_ it. It sucked. I had to remember to breathe, every second, because if I didn't I would die. I bumped into shit all the time. Now I know why you're so graceless. And I was so vulnerable…I was so _weak_. I _really_ didn't like that. I went out with Emmett to a bookstore, and he left me alone outside for just a second, just a moment…And these two guys started eyeballing me, looking at me like a piece of meat. And I knew if I didn't have Emmett to protect me, if I'd been walking home alone that night, they could have done whatever they wanted to me, because I was so _weak_ and helpless…"

Bella listened intently, her own worries forgotten in concern over Rosalie. She was astonished at how fast she stopped hating the girl and started aching for her pain.

Rosalie took a deep breath and kept going.

"I also heard a baby crying at the mall, and realized that I'm not the kind of person who would ever want kids. I've outgrown that. The sound drove me nuts. Everywhere I went I felt small and vulnerable. I like being strong, Bella, after what I've been through. I like being strong enough to crush steel and granite. I don't like to depend on other people for my protection, not after that night. I _like_…Being a vampire," Rosalie admitted as if it hurt her to do so. "I thought for sure I must be a monster, to enjoy being what I am more than being human-So for you to say that, that we never _stopped_ being human…It means a lot to me. More than you could ever possibly know."

Bella nodded, not exactly sure what to say, but she was not frightened or wary when Rosalie took a small step towards her.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I'm sorry for how I've treated you. I never should have…I just didn't want-"

_She apologized_, Bella internally smiled, and every horrible thing Rosalie had ever said to her was wiped away.

"It's okay Rosalie. It's fine. I forgive you," Bella shook her head quickly, meaning it. "It's fine. I'm sorry for bringing up your past like that. I know it's got to be painful."

Rosalie waved that off and shook her own head. She seemed to be gathering herself. She was pulling it back together, and Bella wasn't sure whether to be relieved or worried about that.

Hopefully Rosalie didn't revert to her old self even after this little heart to heart.

Wait.

Did she just have a heart to heart with _Rosalie_?

_What is my life coming to?_ Bella wondered in awe.

_Its end_, her subconscious whispered, and Bella fought off the nauseous wave of anxiety that started back up in her.

"No, I'm glad you did. You've helped me, I think. God, I never thought I'd say something like that to you," Rosalie said with a light laugh, but it wasn't mean.

Rosalie paused, and stated with only the slightest hint of emotion, "Thank you, Bella."

Bella blinked in surprise, and could only nod dumbly, unsure of how to respond. That was good enough for Rosalie though, because she lifted her hand and hesitantly, as if uncertain if she should or was allowed to, hovered it above Bella's shoulder.

_Oh, Rosalie…_

Her palm barely brushed the human's shoulder, and then she pulled it back quickly, a little awkwardly, but that one gesture said so much as she turned away and headed for the balcony door. Bella could only watch her go, dumbfounded by the direction their conversation had taken.

"Oh, and Bella…" Rosalie paused and turned back. Bella looked to her. "If I say some mean things to you after tonight, don't take it personally. It's kind of a habit. Sorry."

_It must be a habit at the very least by now_, she thought, bemused.

"Yeah, no worries," Bella shrugged, and Rosalie hesitated again, before she broke out into a smirk.

"You know this doesn't mean we're like, suddenly best buddies or anything, right?" Rosalie drawled as she slid the door open and took a step inside.

_So much for us being cool now_, she internally whined.

Bella picked up, however, just barely, on the playfulness in Rosalie's expression, and the relief that filled her was beautiful.

"Of course not," she grinned, unable to help herself.

"Because, you know, you're still an annoying uppity human," Rosalie rolled her eyes, tone light.

"And you're still a bitch," Bella chanced to say, and was delighted when Rosalie just smirked, winked and easily replied, "But of course."

She then turned and walked away, leaving the balcony door open behind her.

Bella sighed as she watched Rosalie disappear through the glass into the house, presumably in search of Emmett, or the rest of her family. She supposed she should go after her, or at least return to the living room and back to Alice before the girl had a stroke worrying about her.

"Wow," Alice's familiar voice said from behind her.

Or not.

Bella spun with a shriek to see her girlfriend perched on the balcony railing like some gorgeous, overgrown bird of prey.

"Jesus Christ!" she yelped, hand going to her jack hammering heart as Alice hopped down next to her with a grin.

_Vampires_, she thought with disgust.

More like fucking ninjas.

"That was very sweet, Bella. I can't believe you actually got Rosalie to open up," Alice said as Bella gave her the stink eye for scaring her, which the pixie was clearly not going to acknowledge by the twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah, me either. Where did you come from?" Bella demanded.

"You were taking too long to come back. I got worried," Alice told her, shifting on her feet a moment later. "I wasn't listening, not really. I mean I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but ya know, Rosalie's not very nice to you, so I was concerned and-Please don't be mad," Alice finished and immediately gave up trying to pretend like she hadn't heard the whole conversation at Bella's knowing look.

"I really didn't mean to butt in or anything. I didn't want her to hurt you," Alice whined, but Bella just rolled her eyes, not even bothered, honestly. If the positions had been switched and Rosalie had been in a human Alice's face, Bella probably would have swooped in without a second's hesitation.

"It's fine, Alice. I get it. You creeper," she added fondly just to mess with her, which made Alice pout. "I'd have been surprised if you hadn't been watching out for me, with Rosalie of all people in my face."

"I almost broke in when she got in your face," Alice admitted. "I knew Rose had issues, but I didn't know they ran that deep. I guess I can't blame her. She's not the first of us to struggle with self loathing issues. What you said was very beautiful, Bella. That part about us still being human in a way."

"I meant it," Bella replied, startled. Alice had never given any indication that she did not like herself. She'd expressed frustration with her possessive or jealous instincts, and always tried very hard to keep it from bothering Bella by controlling it, but Bella was alarmed at the thought that Alice might hate herself, for any reason.

"I know," Alice softened at her expression. "But don't worry about me Bella. I've never really personally had problems with being a vampire. I mean…Yes, some of it is hard to deal with, but I don't hate myself. I have before, but I've learned to love myself. It's hard for me to live like that. I'm a silver linings kinda girl, I guess. And I know better, thanks to certain people."

How could she ever hate herself? She was _Alice_. She was beautiful, and sweet, and funny and kind. How could Rosalie ever think they were monsters when Alice was around? The girl was anything but a monster.

She was…

She was Alice.

"Am I one of those certain people?" Bella inquired with a slight grin, knowing she was, and Alice nodded sagely.

"But of course. How am I supposed to hate myself if a girl like you loves me?" Alice grinned, and nudged her playfully. Bella's heart skipped a beat. "Besides, everybody already knows I'm _awesome_."

Bella scoffed as Alice flipped her hair superiorly, and then they both went into a giggle fit.

"Your ego is getting out of hand," Bella told her, and Alice just shrugged.

"Oh, I dunno," Alice drawled, and her expression became suddenly sly. "You took me down a few pegs tonight."

"How?" Bella cocked her head, alarmed again.

_What did I say? Is it because I hurt her feelings earlier? Oh crap, no…_

"You and Rosalie were looking pretty cozy there for a minute," Alice mumbled, barely meeting her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest.

Oh.

Wait, _seriously_?

"You're kidding right? Dude-That was totally-It wasn't like that-You know I would never-"

"Her boobs are bigger than mine."

Bella froze, lips slightly parted at Alice's muttering, and then shook her head as if to shake off her disbelief.

"Are you serious?"

"Well it's true!" Alice threw up her hands, only half kidding as Bella gawked at her. "And you didn't exactly push her off," she added.

"She's a vampire!" Bella protested, torn between laughter and offense as Alice pulled a face at her.

"I know," Alice sighed dramatically, and gave her a tiny smile. "I'm just being dumb. And jealous. Rosalie's just very beautiful, and I know I'm not like, the best looking gal around but-"

Who knew even Alice could be insecure?

_Fuck that. She better know how amazing she is. Or I'm going to prove it to her. _

"Alice," Bella growled, and grabbed Alice's face in her hands to press their lips together firmly. She peppered Alice's mouth with warm, swift kisses and said between them, "Your boobs are perfect. Everything about you is perfect. _You_ are perfect. You're the most beautiful-"

Bella leaned in and licked a hot stripe across the underside of Alice's jaw, and felt her tense in delight.

"Sexiest-"

She sucked a patch of skin between her lips and heard Alice whimper.

"Best looking-"

Bella wrapped her arms around Alice's waist and pulled her close to hiss into her ear.

"Gal around," she finished, and kissed Alice softly, sweetly on the lips.

Alice positively swooned, and then growled into her mouth.

"Damn, Bella," she moaned a little when they broke apart. "Since when are you such a smooth talker?"

"Probably when I started getting something out of it," Bella said suggestively, with a haughty air, and yelped when Alice slapped her hip and scoffed, which made them both break down giggling again.

"Bella," Alice sighed. "How much will you resent me if I tell you we have to go back inside and talk about the Volturi?"

Feeling as if someone had just dumped a bucket of cold water over the top of her head, Bella inhaled sharply, but Alice kissed the corner of her mouth softly.

_I can't fucking believe I forgot that_, she thought. _Ten minutes ago I was practically puking about it. _

Alice tended to have that effect on her though. Hashing it out with Rosalie probably added to her distraction.

_I don't want to die…_

"Not much," Bella lied, attempting and failing to give Alice a weak smile. "We might as well. Sorry for rushing out earlier, and snapping at you. It was just-"

"I know," Alice murmured, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "But now we really do need to talk about it. The family's pretty upset too."

_And so am I_, Alice's eyes added.

Bella nodded, and it was only Alice's arm around her waist that gave her the strength to move her legs back towards what felt like her death sentencing.

They were walking down the stairs when Alice decided to try and make her feel better by joking around a little.

"Besides, what could be worse than prom? I bet even the Volturi are starting to sound pretty good to you by now, huh Bells? You're still going, by the way."

Bella stopped midstride, smacked herself in the forehead, and groaned, because yes, she had completely forgotten she was also being forced to attend her senior prom.

"Fuck."

That was to say, if she could even manage to make it to senior prom in the first place…

* * *

_**Alright, not much to say on this one, except to apologize for that horrible Miley Cyrus joke, lawl. Fitting though, no? Seriously, I don't know how to not write so many words anymore. My apologies. Btw, things are going to pick back up again next chapter if you guys are getting bored about now with all the talking it out. I'm excited to write it, at least. **_

_**Much love for the love, everybody. See you next time. **_


	21. Chapter 21

_**Snort. Hope you guys weren't lying when you said you liked long chapters, cause you got it. It's me, not you all that have a problem with it. But I need to finish it. It's just hard for people to process so much information, and it forces rereading, which is a pain, and I don't like stuffing a lot of stuff into one chapter anyway. I know there are places where I could have cut it off, but I have my reasons for why I didn't this time. **_

_**Anyway, much love for the love. It really is appreciated. Hope you guys like this one. **_

* * *

Bella made it to prom.

Sadly.

Or, well, not so sadly. As much as Bella dreaded the event, it really wasn't so bad. She had worse things to dread in the meantime, so that probably helped to take some of the resistance away.

After talking it out with the Cullens, after lots of yelling, bickering, arguing, fighting, and near fist fights that probably would have leveled the entire surrounding area had Carlisle and Esme not intervened –it was actually heartwarming to see how much the Cullens really cared for her- they came to a decision.

In Emmett's words, that decision amounted to a giant middle finger to the Volturi.

In the end, it was decided that because Bella was not ready to give up her human life so suddenly and especially with such dubious consent, that she would not be turned into a vampire, despite the Volturi's threats. Alice put her foot down on that and said if Bella wasn't entirely sure, nobody was making her do it. She backed that up on penalty of breaking bones and cracking skulls if anyone tried to disagree. Nobody did.

She got a lot of back up from Edward on that, because he claimed being a vampire puts one's soul in jeopardy. He'd always said that nonsense though, being the devout religious man he was. Rosalie gave him a dirty look for that, and she and Bella shared a meaningful look, too, over it. It was a look that spoke volumes of the way that Rosalie was slowly coming around, and even though she didn't say much throughout the conversation, Bella still sensed the way the blonde's animosity had faded.

None of that had anything to do with it for Alice though. She simply refused to make Bella do anything she didn't want to do, especially become a freaking vampire. Honestly, Bella thought Alice actually would prefer to have her changed sometimes. It would make things so much easier between them. She wouldn't have to constantly fight bloodlust around her, as good as her control was, and she wouldn't have to be careful not to kill her if she hugged her too tightly.

But Alice was Alice, and she loved her human or vampire, any way, in every way, and left that completely up to her.

It wasn't that Bella didn't necessarily want to be a vampire. It's just…That wasn't exactly a light decision to be made. She'd thought about it, of course. Who wouldn't want to be beautiful and immeasurably strong? And surely she did not want to grow old and wrinkly and die while Alice stayed young and beautiful forever…

Besides, Bella felt like this thing with Alice was a forever kind of deal. Sometimes things just fall into place that way, where you know that no matter what, you will be with someone until the end, come what may. The realistic part of her wondered unhappily if they could ever break up for any reason, but even if that slim chance ever came to fruition, Bella knew they'd still be friends. It was just who they were, how they worked, how they loved each other.

Always.

The point was, she loved Alice, and wanted that eternity with her, but taking that next big step so quickly turned her stomach. Giving up her human life was a huge deal. It would mean leaving behind all her friends, her family, Charlie, her mother, everything she ever knew or loved. She hadn't even told her parents she was gay yet. She loved them too, so much, so to simply leave them behind…Bella didn't think she could do that so easily.

So it was a no to becoming a vampire, at least for now. She needed more time to think about that, come to terms with everything that entailed. Maybe someday, but within the fortnight as the Volturi had demanded?

Nope.

Not happening, as Alice had said.

So that left…

Execution. Her death.

Tanya argued vehemently against the final decision to call the Volturi and ask for more time for a decision than two weeks. She declared that that was not how they worked, and would not take well to having their demands or orders questioned. They would never agree to it and even bringing it up would only anger them.

Carlisle tried to assuage her protests, and eventually after being told for the hundredth time to butt out by Alice, she fell silent and let the Cullens do as they'd decided. Bella had to wonder why she felt so strongly about how the Volturi worked, but certainly wasn't close enough to the Denali vampire to ask. And anyway, her certainty of Bella's imminent doom made Bella completely dislike her on principle, because she was of course terrified that Tanya was right.

When Carlisle called, however, the Volturi seemed sketchy at best. He requested that they be given until Bella's graduation to turn her, which everyone knew was code for stalling until they could come up with a better plan. Aro, their leader, did not like that. They got into a heated argument, and when Carlisle finally hung up the phone, his look was grim. When questioned about what was said, all he replied with was, "They said they'll think about it."

That had been a month ago.

The Volturi had not called back with a legitimate answer since, and by the time prom rolled around, Bella was eaten up with anxiety. All the Cullens seemed restless, and Alice told her that the Volturi _thinking_ about something was never good. Despite that, Alice could not get a handle on what they might do. Even watching all of their decisions like a hawk, she told Bella that everything felt blurry, uncertain, as if anything could happen, and she didn't know why. Usually the Volturi were very decisive, but right now, they weren't.

Carlisle just told everyone to be on their toes, and so Bella was when the doorbell rang the evening of her senior prom night.

"I've got it, dad!" Bella called to her father as she bounded down the stairs and headed him off.

Technically, Bella knew the person at the door was supposed to be Rosalie. Over the course of this agonizing month of waiting and wondering, she'd grown ever closer to the Cullens, surprisingly including the blonde. They'd taken to running a watch on her house most nights, just to make sure she was safe, which only frightened Bella more because that meant they were afraid something could happen to her. Still, getting to hang out with Alice's adopted siblings more was pretty cool.

Who watched her on what nights varied, depending on who had already hunted or who felt like it. Usually it was Alice, which generally meant lots of sex or snuggling or both, and doing their best not to let Charlie know.

Sometimes, though, it was Emmett, or Edward. Trying to stay quiet with Emmett in her room was like trying to silence a bull in a china shop. He was just as goofy as Alice, and twice as bad as hiding it, and though he cracked Bella up like nobody's business, he was loud about it. More than once he'd had to dive out her window when Charlie popped in to see what all the noise was about.

Edward was much quieter, and nights with him were very peaceful. Their conversations were always soft and easy, about anything and nothing. They avoided serious topics so as not to irritate each other with their vastly differing opinions, but his presence in her room always made Bella fall asleep easier. With Emmett, she was up all night.

With Rosalie, though? That was a different beast entirely. Rosalie usually just stayed outside, but once or twice she slipped in through Bella's window. Ever since their talk, Rosalie seemed to have warmed considerably. Bella discovered that Rosalie had a sharp wit, a fast tongue, and was incredibly intelligent. She was elegant in an unreserved sort of way. The first night she came inside Bella's room, they didn't even say anything beyond, "Hey." Then Rosalie sat in the rocking chair in the corner, and just observed. It was weird at first, but Bella eventually relaxed, and when she climbed in bed to go to sleep, Rosalie left without a word.

Like she said, weird. But how could she be afraid of anything happening to her with a girl like Rosalie Hale watching over her? Her presence was actually comforting, just…Weird. She was so used to the vampire figuratively being at her throat, so it would take some getting used to civility between them.

The next time though, Bella was struggling with her Algebra homework, as always, and Rosalie offered her help. She actually managed to teach Bella how to graph polynomial functions, albeit while simultaneously insulting her intelligence occasionally as she struggled through it, but now when she insulted Bella, the brunette could tell the teasing was more playful than anything. And probably still just a habit, of course.

That broke any lingering ice between them, and after that, if Rosalie was on watch duty, she stayed in Bella's room and spent the night conversing with her. Their conversations generally consisted of friendly arguments over a wide range of topics. It was odd, for Rosalie to insult her in a way that was not meant to be hurtful. Bella quickly got used to it though, and they often spent the nights seeing who could make the better comeback. Rosalie always won, but it was still amusing.

Now she was ringing Bella's doorbell, having come over to help her get ready for prom. Alice normally would have done it, but she'd claimed she wanted to be surprised when they saw each other, despite the fact that she knew exactly what Bella's dress looked like, having picked it out for her herself a week before when they went shopping with Angela and Jessica.

Bella wasn't any good with any of this shit, so she definitely needed help. She didn't get why Alice wanted to be 'surprised' but then her girlfriend did have her eccentric tendencies, so she simply agreed to make her happy. She loved making Alice happy.

And yet, when Bella opened the door, she did so with bated breath. It creaked open as Charlie blinked bemusedly behind her and-

It was Rosalie.

Duh.

"Hey, Rose," Bella waved her in, ignoring the way Rosalie's eyebrow hitched at her, sensing the way she was slightly flustered.

So she knew it was Rosalie, but ever since that phone call with the Volturi, Bella suspected death was around every corner. Every time the doorbell rang, she raced to open it just in case some hungry vampire was waiting to execute whoever opened it, and no way was she going to let that be Charlie.

Rosalie didn't reply, but then she usually didn't. She just floated in, a bag slung over her shoulder, and nodded politely to Charlie when he greeted her.

"Hello, Rosalie," Charlie said amiably, but Rosalie just waltzed on by him and up the stairs as if she owned the place.

She may have warmed up, but she was still a total ice queen sometimes. Bella kind of admired that in her, though. She seemed so unaffected by anything. Bella wished she could be that way, especially in times like these. She stifled her grin when Charlie's brow furrowed and he shook his head, still bemused.

"Ya know, I do like her, Bells, but she's just not as friendly as Alice," Charlie grunted when Bella darted past him to follow her.

"No one's as friendly as Alice, dad. Especially Rosalie," Bella laughed, and then she disappeared up the stairs as well.

That wasn't really fair of him, anyway. Charlie may have hated Edward for what he did to her even if Bella didn't, and was wary of the rest of the Cullens by association, but he had a huge soft spot for Bella's girlfriend. Alice had charmed the hell out of him from the moment they met, much to Bella's amusement, so for him to compare Rosalie to Alice was totally biased and unfair.

Rosalie was already in her room, and when Bella walked in, she saw an assortment of girly products that made her want to cringe, from make up to complicated looking hair clips and bottles of chemicals that she had no bloody idea what they could possibly be for.

Rosalie turned around, saw the horrified look on Bella's face, and smirked.

"This is going to be fun," she said, and Bella could only groan.

* * *

An hour later, Bella slowly walked down the stairs, and when Charlie looked up and saw her coming, she knew Rosalie had done her job well.

Her hair was silky smooth and soft, styled in glossy waves over her shoulders. Her dress hugged her frame lovingly, swirling around from her shoulder, around her waist, and fluttering just shy of her ankles in different shades of blue. Rosalie had done her make up in a way that was not overbearing, but flashy enough for prom, coating her eyes in faint shades of hazy blue smoke and her lips in the deftest shade of light pink gloss.

It wasn't that Bella couldn't do her own make up or anything, but fancy stuff like this she was clueless at. She didn't dress up often, and never went crazy with the cosmetics. Rosalie, however, was _good_, and accentuated her natural good looks that she inherited from her parents without drowning them.

"Wow," Charlie muttered, jaw a little slack. Bella blushed, but was pleased by his reaction. She'd been a little nervous dressing up like this, but was glad to see Charlie liked the results. Rosalie smirked next to her, privately pleased with her work, and they both came down the stairs.

"You look beautiful, Bells. I mean, not that you don't always, but…" Charlie stammered, and ran a hand through his hair as Bella stopped in front of him.

_Oh, Charlie. _

They were never very good at verbalizing to each other. Charlie was a less is more kind of guy when it came to words, but Bella could still tell what he was trying to get across.

"Thanks, Dad," Bella grinned at him, and he seemed relieved that she understood. "So you like it?"

"Yeah. You look great," Charlie nodded, still taking her in with proud, affectionate eyes that made Bella smile happily. "I definitely need to get a picture before you go."

Rosalie clearly had no interest in this pre-prom parental ritual, and she quickly said, "I'll be in the car when you're done."

She took off before either Charlie or Bella could say a word, which made Charlie shake his head again. Bella knew he thought that was rude, but well, most of what Rosalie did and said was rude. He might as well get used to it.

"So why isn't Alice picking you up?" Charlie inquired as he walked over to the table and picked up his camera.

"I told you, Rosalie came over to help me get ready and now we're driving over to their house to meet up, and then we're all going together," Bella said, mildly exasperated as she'd told him this not once, but twice before already.

Charlie nodded noncommittally, and motioned for Bella to pose. She did a little awkwardly, self consciously, and Charlie began snapping pictures of her.

"It's just," Charlie said a minute later, peering at her over the camera lens and hesitating. "I thought, when you said you were going with Alice…"

Bella paused, and then her breath froze in her lungs as she cottoned on.

_What? What did he think? Does he…Does he know about us? Does he know I'm…Gay? But how could he possibly? Surely he would have said something before now! I thought word hadn't reached him yet. Shit! Okay, stay cool. Don't overreact. I'm sure he doesn't know anything. _

"You thought what?" Bella murmured, struggling to keep her poker face as Charlie snapped another picture, and then lowered the camera. He hesitated again before he spoke, and it was like a punch to the gut of anxiety, and Bella knew before he said a word what he was going to say.

"I thought you meant you going _with_ Alice to prom."

Bella tensed. The implications were clear, and Bella found it suddenly nearly impossible to meet her father's eyes.

_He doesn't mean it like that. _

"What do you mean?" Bella asked, despite the fact that she had a damn good idea, and it was making her skin tingle with nerves.

_Shit shit shit_, she thought. _Shit. Does he know? If he does…I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do if he does! What if he hates me? Does he hate me already? God, no! No, no, no! I won't be able to stand that! _

"I just mean…" Charlie sighed and broke off, and then he met her eyes directly. "All I'm trying to say is that I love you, Bella. You can tell me anything, and nothing is going to change that. You know that, right?"

Bella's breath hitched, and she knew in that moment, in that gut wrenching realization that her father was speaking to her with a parental connection that one can only share with their child, and that he knew.

_He knows_, she thought, and Bella took a heavy, lung shaking breath as he stared at her with love in his eyes, and a comprehension she had never thought him capable of.

Word had reached him. Charlie knew that she was gay.

She absolutely and totally panicked.

"Yeah, of course dad. Hey, I've gotta run though, don't want to be late or keep Rose waiting. You know how she gets," Bella blurted, darted forward to kiss his cheek, and took off.

"Bella!" Charlie called after her, but Bella moved as fast as she could in that restricting dress out the front door and didn't look back.

It didn't matter that he'd said he loved her, or that she could tell him anything, because what if he took it back once it was out in the air, if she legitimately came out to him? What if her father started hating her instead? What if he tried to tell her that it was wrong, a sin, that she needed to get help? What if he looked at her with disappointment, or disgust?

_No. No, no, no. I can't_, Bella thought as the door slammed shut behind her and she speed walked over to Rosalie's car, heart pounding. _I can't. Not right now. Not yet. I can't face that yet. I can't do it._

When she got in, Rosalie started the car as Bella took another shaky breath and tried to push the tears beginning to burn in her eyes back down.

"Are you okay?" Rosalie inquired quietly as she backed out, staring at her the whole time, not needing to look to reverse out of the driveway.

Bella stared out the window to avoid her eyes.

"I'm fine," she replied weakly, but Rosalie was not fooled.

"You should tell him," Rosalie said tonelessly as they drove down the road. "He loves you, you know."

"_Rose_."

She was grateful that Rosalie knew better than anyone else what it was to need silence instead of words, and so the blonde did not pry, or say anything else at all.

They pulled up a little while later, and together they approached the front door of the Cullen household.

Bella really didn't want to go to prom tonight, but she also needed something, anything to distract her from her woes and worries. She got just that when she walked inside the Cullen home, and forgot all about her brief but intense talk with Charlie.

She walked into the Cullen home, only to run smack dab into what looked like a party in full swing the moment she stepped foot in the living room.

There was music playing loudly from the very expensive looking speakers perched on the shelves in the corner, and Bella saw the Cullens all milling around, dressed up in suits and dresses alike, talking animatedly. She saw Tanya under Edward's arm as Rosalie kissed Emmett on the cheek before darting upstairs to get ready herself, which probably wouldn't take very long, and even Carlisle and Esme were in refined garb, looking ready to go out.

_What are they holding?_ She wondered, however, when she spotted what looked to be tall, dark glasses in their hands.

She didn't get a chance to find out though, because she spotted Alice at the same time that Alice spotted her, and the vampire lit up at the sight of her.

"Bella!" Alice cried, and Bella grinned the moment Alice's arms wrapped around her as she darted over, smelling and looking fantastic, from the brief glimpse Bella had managed to get of her girlfriend before she was in her arms. Already the night felt easier, happier. "Let me get a look at you sweetheart. You have no idea how hard it was not to peek and see what Rose decided to do!"

Bella stepped back, and got a good look at Alice as well.

She was…

_Beautiful_.

As beautiful as anything Bella had ever seen, and so her eyes feasted on her lover hungrily. They'd coordinated colors, but Alice's dress was blue _and_ yellow, vibrant, gorgeous. The dress was made to cut across the tops of her thighs and drape low on her lovely, pale legs, and from the hem a brilliant shade of canary yellow swirled up into the sparkling, bright blue of the rest of her dress. Bella's eyes traveled over her, up the graceful slope of her neck, where blue and yellow feather earrings hung from her lobes.

Finally, their eyes met, and together they beamed.

_Whoa_, Bella thought as she saw how bright Alice's eyes were. They were a shining, vivid shade of gold. She wasn't sure if she'd ever seen them that solid before. It made her whole face glow.

"You're so gorgeous, Alice," Bella fawned as Alice swooned.

"Beautiful. Absolutely _beautiful_. You are incredible, Bella. You really do live up to your namesake, honey. I love what Rose did with your make up. And your hair! I'm so glad she left it down. I love the way it frames your perfect face," Alice gushed, and Bella got all warm and fuzzy, blushing under the heaps of compliments. Alice was babbling, but she looked adorable, and Bella knew it was because she was excited for tonight, even if Bella wasn't really.

"Hey, Baby B! Welcome to the pre-party!" Emmett called as he walked over and scooped her up into a huge hug that made her yelp before he unceremoniously dropped her back to the floor and grinned at her.

"Uh, hey," Bella blinked dumbly, a little surprised at such a strong greeting though she didn't mind.

"Hullo, Bella," Edward waved from across the room, even his face open and warm, his tone light. The mood was infectious, and Bella could see that the Cullens really were excited for tonight.

She couldn't help but wonder _why_. Surely they'd been to too many proms to count, but still, it was nice to see them all so happy.

"God, Bella, this is going to be so much fun," Alice said, and grabbed her hands to drag her into the room properly. Her voice was bright and effervescent, even more so than normal, which was saying something.

Well, maybe not so much lately, as everyone had been tip toeing around and looking worried. Alice had been doing her best not to let Bella see the worrying in her eyes, but still Bella caught it, knowing her the way she did. It was so good to see her relaxed again for once. It made Bella smile, to hear her lover as such.

"Sure," she agreed, just to keep Alice in her good mood.

"Dude, check me out, Bells," Emmett demanded, and struck a pose.

Bella looked him over with a barely stifled grin at his goofiness. He did look smooth and suave, decked out in a slick tuxedo with a red vest that Rosalie's dress would undoubtedly match.

"Lookin' good," Bella laughed as he waggled his eyebrows at her and popped the color of his shirt.

"Damn right I do. Wait till you see Rose though. She looks fucking killer-I mean freaking killer in her dress," Emmett quickly corrected himself as Esme gave him the evil eye.

"Not as good as me," Alice boasted, and did a twirl that made the hem of her dress swirl around her legs and distracted Bella for a good long second. When the dress lifted, she got an even better look higher up at the toned backs of Alice's thighs.

Bella was about to say something in agreement, but Esme caught her attention first.

_Hope nobody saw me peeking. _

By the twinkle in Alice's eye, she totally had, but Bella just smiled privately and looked away quickly from Alice's smirk.

"Hello Bella. You look very beautiful," Esme hummed when Emmett took a swig from the mysterious dark tinted glass in his hand to avoid her warning eyes.

"Thanks. So do you guys. What are you and Carlisle all dressed up for though, if you don't mind me asking?" Bella inquired curiously.

"We're taking the rare opportunity to go out together for a night. We've gotten caught up in the festive spirit, so to speak," Carlisle replied loftily, and sipped from a glass in his hand. "And I've got the night off for once, so I figured I'd take my lovely wife out for a night on the town that she desperately deserves."

Esme leaned into him as Bella nodded noncommittally, distracted by the glass in his hand. She glanced over as Alice bounced back to her arms and dotted a kiss to her cheek, before spinning away to begin dancing with Emmett to the new song that came on, both of them laughing loudly as Edward and Tanya watched and laughed, uncharacteristically amused.

Okay. What the fuck were they all drinking?

The Cullens didn't drink or eat anything, besides…Blood.

_Blood. Are they all drinking blood? Now?_ Bella wondered with a start, and was about to ask when Rosalie came back down the stairs.

Rosalie did, in fact, look killer in her dress. It was blood red, and fit her body like a glove. Her hair was now styled in thick glossy ringlets that framed her face, and Bella could only think of her as a much prettier version of Marilyn Monroe, or a sixties beauty queen. She wore elbow length black gloves that matched Emmett's tux, and Bella couldn't help but feel a little insecure when she entered the room, head high and haughty as ever.

Emmett wolf whistled, stopping in the middle of his ridiculous dance with Alice, and Rosalie shook her head with a wry smile.

"So tell me Bells," Alice suddenly murmured in her ear, and Bella leaned back instinctively when she felt the vampire's arms slide around her waist and pull her close. She couldn't help but shiver at the slightly husky quality of Alice's voice. "Does she look better than me, darling?"

_Hell to the nizzo. _

"Not a chance," Bella breathed back, and turned in her arms, meaning it. Rosalie was beautiful, strikingly so, but Alice was just something else.

There was no girl in the world like her, and she really was a shining light tonight. When their eyes locked, Bella couldn't even remember what Rosalie looked like, but she realized she was not the only one the blonde was capable of causing insecurity in.

Alice smiled at her, assuaged and lovingly, with her nose crinkling and her golden eyes twinkling.

"And she doesn't even come _close_ to you," Alice murmured, destroying whatever insecurity Bella might have been feeling herself.

But when Bella leaned in for a kiss, Alice pulled back. Surprised and confused, Bella cocked her head at her, but Alice squirmed and avoided her eyes.

"Alice, what-?"

"Oh, don't worry, Swan. Alice just doesn't want to kiss you with blood breath," Rosalie chuckled as she leaned into Emmett, slipped the glass out of his hand, and then turned it bottoms up to drain it, her throat bobbing as Bella watched.

Oh.

_Oh. _

They _were_ drinking blood. Of course, what else could it have been? But _why_?

Bella didn't even know what to think or feel about that; only that she didn't know why. When she looked around, she saw most of the Cullens were avoiding her eyes, especially Edward and Alice. She realized that just like Alice, their irises were bright gold, more so than usual.

"Our apologies, Bella. Does it make you uncomfortable? Alice was worried that it would, but…It's a necessity for tonight," Esme spoke up.

Did it make her uncomfortable?

_I don't know. It's not really a big deal is it? _Bella thought uncertainly, trying to process it._ I've always known they drink it. I just don't get why they're all chugging it down right now, of all times. I guess it doesn't really bother me, I mean if they need it…_

"How come?" she asked as Alice fidgeted next to her, which bothered her. She didn't want Alice thinking this upset her. They were vampires. They drank blood. So what? That's how it was. Who cared? It was kind of gross, if she sat and thought about it, but she knew better than to do that.

"Why do you think?" Rosalie said as she blurred over into the kitchen and came back a second later with the glass refilled. "We're going to be surrounded by hot, sweaty, dancing humans all night. Their blood is going to be pumping with hormones, and our pheromones, as they try to get lucky, or dance their ass off. We need all the fortification we can get. It's going to take forever to stock all this back up again. So here's to splurging," Rosalie laughed, and sipped from her second glass of blood, her eyes already brightened a few shades from the first one. She ignored Esme's eye roll over her crass language.

"Oh," Bella said. "Oh, that's totally cool. I mean, drink away. I don't care. Do what you have to do, don't mind me. It doesn't bother me."

The Cullens looked completely relieved, and most of them relaxed. That fast, the smiles in the room returned, and Bella jumped in surprise when Alice kissed her cheek several times in quick succession.

"Good. That's good. See, I told you guys she wouldn't care," Alice declared, and bumped her hip playfully into Bella's.

"Then let me kiss you!" Bella laughed, and reached for her, but Alice darted out of reach.

"Yeah, let her kiss you!" Emmett added, which made everyone chuckle.

"Nuh uh. I'll taste gross. Even your tolerance for weird only goes so far," Alice shook her head firmly. "Hey, I'll be right back. I've got a present to give you, okay? You just relax, and get ready to have hella fun tonight at your _senior prom_! We're leaving in half an hour!"

Bella's eyebrows rose as Alice tossed back what was left in her glass, and then shot up the stairs in a blur.

_How does she contain all that energy in such a tiny body?_ Bella wondered. _And why is everyone so energetic tonight anyway? Prom's not that big of a deal!_

"Even we still don't know the answer to that," Edward chuckled, having heard her think it.

"'Hella,'" Rosalie rolled her eyes slowly. "God, she always reverts to that horrible slang when she's drunk."

"Drunk?" Bella tilted her head, not comprehending, and Rosalie smirked as Esme sighed.

"She's not drunk, and neither are the rest of you," Esme huffed, but the Cullen 'children' all shared similar mischievous expressions.

"Your mother's right. You know we are not capable of being drunk," Carlisle added, but Rosalie scoffed.

"Yeah, right. Give her two more glasses and she'll be slurring and purring," Rosalie said. "You know Alice is a total lightweight. I can't believe the rest of you aren't already. Em, how many glasses have you had?"

"Eight," Emmett stated proudly. "But I can hold my plasma, unlike some people. Look at Eddy boy's eyes. Watch out, Tanya, the hunter's out!"

They all laughed at that, and Edward gave a grudging smirk, but Bella felt like she was missing something. Rosalie noticed her confusion and came to stand next to her.

"Don't worry," she murmured lowly, swilling the liquid in her glass around idly. "You'll see what I mean before the night is over, I bet. We can't actually get drunk, I know, but we can definitely get blood buzzed. It's harmless, really, but it makes us much…_Nicer_. Alice included."

Bella still felt like she was missing the obvious innuendo in Rosalie's words, but she gave up when Emmett suddenly clapped his hands and yelled, "This song is my jam!" and began to dance wildly, gyrating his hips to the cheers of his family.

Bella laughed, and they spent the next fifteen minutes watching him dance, till he pulled Tanya and Edward in and made them join him, then Esme and Carlisle got dragged into it when Rosalie, in a surprising show of joining in on the fun, pulled her adoptive parents by the hands into the fray. She was right; the blood buzz really did loosen these broody vampires up.

Bella watched with arms crossed, cheeks beginning to hurt from smiling so much and watching them all.

Why couldn't they stay here and have prom amongst themselves? This definitely felt like a lot more fun than prom would be. Now if only Alice would come the hell back. She was taking forever upstairs. What present took so long to fetch? Bella was starting to worry.

After a while they all ended up seated as they waited for Alice to return from whatever mysterious thing she was doing upstairs. Bella was plopped down on the end of the couch with Rosalie on her side and Emmett next to her, and she snorted when Emmett pulled Edward and Tanya down with him, so that they all had to squish up.

Somehow the conversation turned to trading embarrassing stories, which Bella loved to hear but had no interest in sharing. Emmett wouldn't stand for that though, and eventually, under his demands and the prodding of the rest of the Cullens she got roped into telling them about the time when she was thirteen that she fell naked out of her window into a cactus patch back in Arizona, and had to spend the rest of the night with her mother picking barbs out of her ass.

It was a long story, okay?

She was still thankful none of her neighbors saw that nonsense. Her mother thought she was so fucking funny sending a cactus to Bella every year in reminder, which is why Bella always threw them out.

Sometimes.

She did still miss her mother, after all.

Telling it made her cheeks glow like Christmas light bulbs, but she couldn't help but laugh along with the rest of the howling Cullens as they all completely cracked up. Even Rosalie burst into laughter, and everyone in the room froze when she laughed so hard that she gave this adorable little hiccup in between.

"Oh my god," Rosalie clapped a hand across her mouth, looking mortified, and everyone grinned a shit eating grin, which made her attempt a feeble scowl.

Then they all started laughing all over again, and Bella's night just felt so much better. The more Rosalie hiccupped between laughs, the more she couldn't help but giggle, but she froze when she felt Rosalie's hand on her knee.

The blood buzz had _really_ gotten to her apparently. How many glasses had she had now? Was it seven, or eight? Maybe it was ten?

She wasn't the only one. All the Cullens were bright eyed and in wildly good spirits. The gesture wasn't even really a big deal; it was just a friendly motion as Rosalie tried to contain her laugh. Bella did the same with her friends all the time.

And yet…

Bella suddenly became acutely aware of the raised level of pheromones in the room, and though her body was generally accustomed to it, she understood exactly why the Cullens were 'fortifying' themselves for tonight.

They were a pack of predators about to dive headfirst into a sea of their natural prey, and Bella saw as if she'd never known before how beautiful they all were, and how deadly they could be.

_Wow. This is what blood does to them, huh? If this is how animal blood affects them, I can't imagine what they'd be like if it were human blood…_

"Damn it Emmett, where the hell did you put it?" Alice complained as she came flying back down the stairs out of nowhere, looking frazzled. "I've torn the whole upstairs apart, I even looked in the attic-"

Everyone in the room turned to her. Bella felt Rosalie's hand on her knee like a white hot chain as Alice stopped mid sentence and narrowed her eyes imperceptibly.

"What's going on?" Alice asked in a tone that spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e plainly to Bella.

_Okay, no, don't look at me like that, Alice. This is nothing. Man, is she really mad? I didn't think…_

Oh wait.

Bella fought the powerful urge to face palm herself, as she remembered what she'd forgotten caught up in the moment of vampire pheromones and good mood vibes.

Alice was the jealous type.

The _very_ jealous type, no matter how hardshe tried to fight it. Rosalie's on her hand could have been as good as kissing her in the eyes of Alice's inner vampire.

"Bella was just telling us about the time she became a human porcupine," Rosalie replied easily, her hand sliding off of Bella with absolutely no guilt. She met Alice's eyes steadily, but Bella felt her shift towards Emmett and lean into him.

"Oh really? That's cute," Alice said, her voice sounding strained. "Bella, can I speak to you alone for a moment? Upstairs, please?"

Welp.

Shit.

"Of course," Bella stated immediately, but as she stood and stepped away from Rosalie as quickly as she could, she barely heard the blonde whisper, "You're welcome."

Choosing to pretend like she hadn't heard that, because she didn't understand it anyway, she stepped towards Alice, who had that scary, tight look on her face that meant Bella had pissed her off. Her jaw was locked, and her reflective buttery yellow eyes were hard.

_Why does she reserve that look only for when she's mad at _me_?_ She wondered desperately, and hurried after her girlfriend when Alice shot up the stairs without waiting for her. She tried to pretend like the rest of the Cullens didn't watch them go.

_Okay, this is totally unfair. She has no right to be mad at me. I didn't do anything wrong. And neither did Rosalie! She wasn't like groping me or anything. I saw her grab Esme's knee like that just the other day when they were goofing around. She wouldn't even do that normally anyway. Rose is just…Drunk. Kind of._

Bella's thoughts instantly became defensive as she reached the top of the stairs, and she opened her mouth to call out to Alice, who she could not see in the gloom of the upstairs hallway, but she never got the chance.

"_Come here_."

Bella yelped as Alice grabbed her by the front of her dress and _pulled_ her. The world turned into a streak, and Bella heard the faint slam of a door banging shut, and then she was laid out flat on her back on something soft with a furious _thump_.

Talk about _vertigo_. Did they just break the sound barrier?

Then there were lips smothering hers, covering them. Bella gasped as Alice kissed her hungrily, furiously. Dizzy and shocked and confused, Bella's eyes popped open, but she groaned and kissed back reflexively, clutching Alice's shoulders.

_What is happening?_

"Mmph, Alice-What-"

"Shh," Alice growled against her mouth, and snapped her teeth into Bella's lower lip, her fangs just away from it. Bella whimpered in surprise as a bolt of arousal shot through her when Alice pulled it away from her teeth luxuriously, slowly, sensually, and suckled on it briefly before plunging her tongue into Bella's mouth.

_What the hell…Ugh, oh my god!_

How was she supposed to think when Alice was all over her like this?

Bella arched and moaned helplessly as Alice grabbed her by the hips and pushed her further up the bed. She realized that this was _not_ Alice's room. She whimpered confusedly, and was rapidly getting turned on as Alice leaned up into her and peppered wet, open mouthed kisses up and down her neck, rumbling the whole time. She looked around in the hazy darkness of a falling night to see unfamiliar walls, an unfamiliar bed, and an unfamiliar hardwood floor. Alice's room had a carpet, and that's not where her window was, and that was not where her dresser was supposed to be placed.

"Fuck, Alice," Bella gasped and shuddered when Alice jerked Bella's hips up as she pulled back with another growl.

"What the hell were you doing?" Alice snapped down at her. Bella was extremely aware of the way her dress was bunched up around her hips, and the rapidly growing wet spot in her underwear. Her legs were spread lewdly on account of Alice's movements, and she was struggling to think.

"Don't be mad," Bella pleaded, trying to find her brain. "Rosalie was j-just-Hey!"

"Just _touching_ you," Alice rumbled, eyes flashing as Bella shivered and gripped the sheets, looking down on her in bewilderment and arousal.

What was she saying again?

"Alice…"

"Just touching what is _mine_. Don't you _get_ it, Bella?" Alice hissed, and pushed her dress further up her body, running her hands over Bella's quivering belly as she glared into her eyes.

_Instincts. Her instincts are going off_, Bella understood, and she sucked in a heavy breath.

Alice's instincts were flaring…And it was _hot_.

It really shouldn't have turned her on, but it did.

"Yes," Bella breathed. "But A-Alice-It wasn't anything. You k-know that…"

Alice groaned and let her head fall back for a moment, and then she shot forward and kissed Bella hungrily on the mouth so that Bella could do nothing but moan helplessly.

As bad as Alice's jealousy was, and as much as she was frustrated by it, she could not lie about the effects it had on her. She knew it frustrated Alice too, but Alice got so _electric_ when she was passionate, and nothing roused her faster than when it came to Bella.

"I know that," Alice murmured, her voice dripping sex that made Bella's stomach clench. Even in the darkness Alice's eyes glowed with desire, and a fierce, loving possessiveness. "It's not you. It's _her_. I don't care if she's blood buzzing, I don't want her hands on you for _any_ reason. I can't _stand_ it."

"I know," Bella replied, and whimpered when Alice started sucking at her pulse point, running her hands all over her, forcing her dress up higher. Bella knew what she was doing, why she was coming onto her so strongly.

Alice was struggling with her instincts, and Bella didn't know how to help her. She could tell Alice to get off, but yeah fucking right. Why would she ever do that? She was practically soaking through her underwear at this point, and besides, what good would that do?

She knew Alice would listen in a heartbeat, would be off of her the second she requested, but somehow Bella knew that would only make her jealousy issues worse if Bella rejected her now. Not that she wanted to anyway, but damn she really wished Alice didn't have to deal with feeling as if Bella would ever want anyone but her.

Because no. Fuck that. There was no one else in the whole world, the universe.

"Alice," Bella hissed and dug her fingers into her back, squirming under her ministrations as Alice rocked into her. "Alice, don't be jealous. You know I don't want anyone but you. You know that was nothing."

"I know," Alice moaned helplessly, but the tension stayed drawn in her shoulders.

"I don't know how to help," Bella said in frustration, and Alice drew back to stare into her eyes. "I don't know how to prove it to you, Alice. You have nothing to be jealous of."

"You have nothing to prove. I know I have nothing to be jealous of, I just can't help it."

Bella realized it was not Alice she was trying to convince. It was Alice's vampire as she looked into swirling, hypnotic pupils.

"But…"

Bella's breath hitched when Alice licked her lips slowly, and she leaned in to brush their noses together intimately, provocatively, affectionately. The mix took her breath away.

"There is something you can do to help…"

"What? I'll do anything," Bella said devotedly, heart pounding. Anything for Alice. Anything to help.

Alice hesitated and then said, "I didn't want to bring it up the first time…It wasn't the right moment, and it wasn't about that, but…Do you remember how Victoria kept telling me to claim you?"

Rankled at the thought of Victoria now, Bella made a face, but nodded.

"That would help. It would, so much. Let me _claim_ you, Bella…The way vampires claim their mates."

The thought of being claimed by Alice in the primal way she could see it written all over her face in lust and love made Bella shudder.

_Claim me. She wants to claim me like a vampire would…I don't know what that means, but fuck it, if that's what she needs. Whatever Alice needs, I'll do it. _

Still, she had to ask, "Okay. How? What do you have to do?"

At this, Alice gave a deep, chest rumbling purr and started kissing her neck again, so Bella had to squint and whimper in delight, distracted.

"That's the fun part, baby doll," Alice drawled silkily, and slid downwards in that way that always made Bella's heart skip a beat because she knew where Alice was headed. "But it would be so much easier to _show_ you than to tell you…"

"Okay," Bella squeaked, her voice shooting up in pitch as Alice hiked her dress up out of her way again, and her eyes almost rolled back when pearly white teeth clamped onto the damp fabric of her underwear and dragged it down her thighs slowly, Alice's eyes on her the whole way.

Fuck, eye contact with Alice during always cut her straight to the core.

She throbbed in her sex, hungrily, wantonly, and it only deepened when she caught a peek at Alice's fangs before the vampire unceremoniously tossed her panties away.

Even in the gloom of this unfamiliar room, Bella glistened. Alice inhaled sharply at the sight of her naked folds, dripping with the evidence of what she did to Bella. How could she ever be jealous seeing what she could do to Bella. Did she not see, didn't she know?

"It's going to be intense," Alice said with a sudden seriousness. "Bella, don't take this lightly. When I claim you, I'm going to mark you as _mine_, and any vampire within twenty feet of you is going to be able to know. But you're not an object to be owned-It's just to show them that you belong _with_ me, not to me, and I-"

"Alice," Bella bit out. "Shut up. I know that, baby, I know. So just shut up and do what you have to do to realize I'm _yours_. I trust you. I love you."

Alright, her libido might have had something to do with that one. Alice had gotten her all worked, and as much as Bella appreciated her caring, she was dying here. She was all spread open, hot and aching, and Bella trusted her.

Alice's eyes flashed at her words, and Bella knew she'd roused the beast.

_Fuck yes. _

"Yeah?" Alice growled. "Then you better get ready, because you're about to orgasm like you never have before. I'm going to give it _all_ to you, and you're going to give it _right_ back to me."

With that, Alice roughly grabbed the backs of her knees and yanked her legs across her shoulders. Bella could only yelp through a shock of arousal, and then Alice wrapped her arms around Bella's waist and lifted her, so that Bella's back arched off the bed and she was supported at a near perfect 45 degree angle.

Bella gasped in a sudden breath, sucking in the thick, delicious white chocolate and berries air that _blasted_ her senseless.

Alice was literally giving her _everything_, like she'd promised. Pheromones coated the inside of Bella's mouth, her brain, her whole nervous system, and she gushed, crying out.

She had never known how much Alice held them back, how powerfully she could exert them. Not even Victoria had ever done it quite like this.

And then Alice devoured her.

"Oh fuck-_Alice_!" Bella mewled, and cranked her back even further up of the bed until it strained as Alice's tongue sworded through her folds, lashing into her, laving over every spot, every nerve. She pressed it in deeply, fearlessly burying her face into her, growling into her so that Bella had to feel every vibration.

"Shh," Alice purred, sounding like a hissing snake as Bella remembered they were not the only ones in the house and let out the strangled sound of a dying animal that she was sure was anything but sexy.

Her mind turned to mush. Nothing but swears, praising deities, Alice's name, nothing coherent.

Just bliss.

How could she stay quiet through this? _How_? Was it even possible?

It was a struggle, that was for sure.

Alice buried her face into Bella, nuzzling in, licking, swiping away at everything that came out. Bella loved it, loved the way Alice was doing everything _but_ literally eating her. She reveled in it, but this was not the best part. As the pheromones saturated the air so thickly that Bella could barely breathe anything but Alice's existence, Alice's tongue dipped inside.

Cool, and slick, and lithe.

_Oh my fucking god_, Bella thought, and scrambled for a pillow to sink her teeth into, muffling her desperate cry.

Alice had done this before, but not quite like this. She pushed it in, deep, deeper than Bella felt like should be possible. It reached in to her being, sliding over every single nerve. Was her tongue even that long? Holy shit, it didn't matter, because it was in and Bella began to rock desperately, back muscles straining, chest heaving as Alice began to fuck her.

With her tongue.

_Oh god. _

Alice groaned into her and scraped her nails over Bella's skin lightly, her tongue flashing in and out of Bella at inhuman speeds, fast and deep and quick. She kept it stiff, somehow exerting total control over the muscle. She pumped it into Bella until Bella felt the hot coil in her walls and stomach knot so tightly that it made her eyes water, the back of her skull throb. The bridge of Alice's nose, the tip of it kept bumping, nudging into her sensitive clit. Her legs dangled over Alice's shoulders, and her dress was so ruffled and wrinkled and her previously perfect hair was splayed out messily on the pillow, and somehow none of that seemed to matter with the sexy vampire's face buried between her thighs.

"Yes, Alice. _Yes_!" Bella whimpered breathily. "_God_, yes."

She was right there, dancing on the edge, ready to fall off the skyscraper, to feel that orgasm building up so heavily and powerfully inside her that she knew Alice was right when she'd said it would be like none she'd ever experienced before.

_So good, so good, so good!_

When Alice's eyes locked on hers, her irises a persistent blackening shade of brass gold, and _held_ them, boring into her, nearly glaring with the ferocity of the claim she was laying down, Bella lost it.

"Fu-u-u-_uck_!" Bella sobbed, a strangled, muted cry of ecstasy as she fell apart all over Alice's tongue.

If the Cullens hadn't heard anything else until this point, there was no way they wouldn't have heard that.

Bella's walls fluttered and then spasmed wildly, heat flaring through her whole being. She arched up as far as she could, felt her spine protesting as if her back would break, felt Alice's arms lock on her waist and hold her tightly. Bella's thighs clamped down on her cheeks, and she was sure had Alice been human she might have suffocated her in the death grip she got on her, what with how deeply Alice's face was buried into her climaxing sex.

The pheromones pulsated in her, prolonged it until Bella was gasping for air, literally unable to breathe. She reached out desperately, whimpering Alice's name, raked her fingers through the her hair and begged, pleaded for a reprieve from her unending release, the never ending crashing waves coursing through her lower belly, her shaking thighs, her heaving chest, her throbbing walls.

"Please-No more, I can't, Alice, p-_please_," Bella gasped, breathing in pure static electricity.

Alice held her there for a split second more, and then Bella's back hit the bed again and Alice's tongue slid out of her, slowly, dragging the whole way. The whole room was spinning, and Bella thought she might pass out as she continued to quake.

It was still going. She was still going. She was _still_ cumming.

"Alice," Bella whimpered desperately, haplessly.

Alice was there, and she laid her body out along Bella's and pressed her back into the bed, slowly, firmly. Bella felt a wet slickness on the top of her thigh that was not her own, though it could have been considering the fact that she was wetter than she'd ever been in her life.

But it was Alice this time, grinding onto her leg, sliding herself slowly back and forth with a rumbling purr. Bella couldn't even do anything but lay there and tremble and let her do it, her brain struggling to reboot after that not so little death.

_Holy shit…_

Alice switched legs and slid up that one too, coating Bella in her wetness, and Bella moaned softly when Alice shifted upward and slid along her stomach too, pressing down on her with a soft grunt, a high noise of delight leaving her mouth.

"Bella," Alice rasped, and Bella's eyelids fluttered open weakly as Alice shifted up even higher, and the lovely scent of her arousal flooded her already drowning brain.

She was not breathing air anymore. She couldn't think.

It was all Alice. Everything was _Alice_.

Bella stared straight up into Alice's slick sex, and a hungry moan left her mouth even though her whole body felt like a numb puddle, a floating cloud, and her eyes lidded as she mindlessly lifted up and latched onto Alice the best that she could.

Surely in any other circumstance, what she did would have been considered inadequate. It would have been poorly done though she'd learned well in this past month with Alice and loved to go down on her, but after whatever the fuck Alice just did to her, she couldn't apply any of that.

_Tastes like heaven…_

She just licked obediently, luxuriously, languidly sliding her tongue over her, tasting every inch of Alice, the white chocolate of her flesh, the berries of her wetness. Bella moaned and suckled the pearl of her clit into her mouth, and played with it with her tongue like a hard candy, and that was more than enough for Alice to release her high pitched mewl of bliss and fall apart all over her face.

Alice shook, and Bella's eyes rolled back for the duration of her release, until Alice let out this huffing gasp of a breath, and then she was simply gone.

Bella opened her eyes, feeling drugged, drunken, way more than anything like a blood buzz. It was more like a straight injection of heroin. She blinked owlishly, slowly, staring up at the ceiling, faintly wondering where the hell Alice had gotten off too.

_Besides my face. _

Bella felt a huge grin split her face, and she had to suppress the insane, almost hysterical laugh that threatened to bubble out of her.

_Oh man, what's wrong with me?_ She thought, smiling like a maniac as she weakly lifted her head, feeling like she couldn't even move any other part of her body.

When she looked round, she spotted Alice with her head hanging out the window, sucking in the outside air like she would never get to again.

"Alice?" she called weakly, her smile dropping a bit as she tried to collect her senses. The pheromones in the air seemed to have dissipated a good bit, but Bella could still feel them, lingering inside her. They shifted inside her cells, making a home, so it felt like Alice was still inside her, like she'd never left.

"One sec," Alice called back faintly.

When Alice finally turned back around and walked slowly back over to her, Bella raked her eyes over every inch of her and breathed slowly, deeply, finally beginning to come down. The trembles began to fade, and with a huge effort, she brought herself back to reality.

"What," Bella groaned the instant Alice slid back into the bed next to her, molding their bodies together as she kissed softly over Bella's face, pampering her with affection. "the hell was that?"

_Does it matter? Wow, I feel so good. _

"That," Alice grinned down at her, rubbing at the top of her chest lovingly. "was me claiming you. Are you okay, Bella? Was it too much? I told you that it would be intense. Do you need me to go get you a glass of water, or anything-"

"No. You're not going anywhere," Bella grunted at her, and tightened her grip on Alice, snuggling into her and breathing in deeply.

_Am I high?_ She wondered. _This feels incredible. What exactly did she do to me?_

"Okay," Alice smiled serenely, her eyes black now.

"So what was that exactly?" Bella insisted dreamily, the feeling of being surrounded by Alice even in the air still not fading. "Explain, if you can. Not that I'm complaining, because wow, that was fucking awesome, but…"

"Vampires claim by scent, Bella," Alice murmured, stroking her hair out of her face. "Inside and out. I released all control over my pheromones, so that they would saturate you, and I'm sure you felt me inside, darling…"

Normally Bella would have gotten turned on all over again by Alice's tone, but she was incapable at this point, so she just grinned, and they both giggled.

"I coated the inside of you with my scent as best I could. It's easier for males to do so, but I'm sure we made do, didn't we?"

_Hell yes we did. _

They did a whole lot more than just 'make do.'

"And I'm sorry, I hated doing it, but it was part of it. It's just so _base_, and I felt like I might as well have peed on you or something, but I had to…You know. Grind on you, to get my scent on your skin," Alice wrinkled her nose, and Bella burst into laughter.

"I thought for sure that would weird you out," Alice said, sounding amused and bemused with her reaction.

"Alice, no. Don't worry about it. It was actually really hot," Bella husked, and nuzzled into her neck, sighing contentedly.

_She can hump me any time she wants. _

Alice smirked, and then softened when Bella said, "But it worked, right? The claim did?"

"Yes. I may have, er…Overdone it a bit?" Alice replied, sounding guilty. "When I said every vampire within twenty feet of you was going to be able to tell…It came out to be more like fifty."

"That's not what I meant, but that's fine," Bella chuckled, and sat up with Herculean effort, feeling all warm and fuzzy on the inside. "I was asking if claiming me worked for you. Are your instincts better now? We did this for a reason…Besides the orgasms. Hard to believe those were just a bonus, I know, but still."

All the pheromones tonight had put her in a spectacular mood, for obvious reasons. Bella's tone was joking and light, but Alice sighed and ran a hand through her mussed black locks.

_What? What is it now? Did it not work right? She said it did!_

"Bella, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so terrible with my jealousy. That's not even who I really am. And it's not that I think you'd ever cheat on me or anything like that, or that you'd want to be with anyone else. I trust you, and I love you, I really do. I just can't help it. I'm trying, so hard-"

"Alice, I know," Bella replied easily, and shifted around on the bed so that she could sit up and kiss Alice properly on the mouth. Her legs felt like jelly, but Alice still needed her, and so she was going to reassure the best that she could.

It was not Alice that had such extreme issues with jealousy. It was her vampire, and Bella understood that. She only wanted to help her overcome it. She did not blame Alice for it, especially when she tried so hard to control it all the time.

"If claiming me is what you needed, then that's what you needed. If it helps you, I don't mind. I certainly don't mind if _that's_ what it's like. I just want you to happy. And I want you to know that as worried as your vampire is, _you_ have absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to me. You never have any reason to be jealous, because you're the only one I want. I love you, with everything I've got. As long as you know that, and I know you know that…" Bella smiled gently and shrugged.

Alice still looked skeptical, so Bella said, "Look, I know you're not some Neanderthal walking around with a club and beating me over the head, dragging me around by the hair and grunting 'mine' at anyone who looks at me funny."

That did it, and Alice burst into giggles, black eyes twinkling. Bella's heart did a little dance at the sound of it.

_God, I love her so much. Don't you know that Alice? Don't you get it? I know you do. And now every other vampire will, too. Which is fine by me. Let them. I'll wear her proudly. I am Alice's. And she's mine. I don't want anyone else. _

_I am hers._

* * *

After they got all cleaned up, which took a good deal of time considering they'd fucked up their hair, makeup, and dresses with their shenanigans, Bella finally got to figure out what her present was.

They found out the Cullens had left without them, which Alice assured her was out of respect for them. She'd read the text from Emmett telling her that, and Bella was horribly embarrassed when Alice refused to let her read it because she didn't want her to know that the Cullens knew exactly what they'd been up to upstairs once they got started.

Bella wasn't stupid.

But oh the fuck well.

It's hard to worry about anything in post coital bliss like that.

She was still walking funny when Alice led her into the garage and gave her the present.

"Oh my god-Is that my _truck_?" Bella gaped.

Sitting in the middle of the Cullen's garage was her old beaten up truck, completely revamped.

The old peeling, rusty red paint had been redone with a glossy, candy apple red shade that gleamed in the light. It sat on thick, new black rubber tires with shiny chrome rims to match the grill and bumper. The windows had been replaced with shady, tinted glass, and the hood had been tricked out with a thick black racing stripe that Bella was delighted to see matched her brand new interior when she yanked the door open in exhilaration. The seats were a plush black material with red stitching, and the dashboard was now laden with varnished wood inlays. Even the floorboards looked new.

And hanging from the rearview mirror was a simple silver charm bearing the letter _B_ in swirling script.

"You're fucking joking," Bella gushed as she lurched back and saw Alice attempting and failing to contain her huge grin.

"Do you like it?" Alice inquired, and then laughed when Bella made an incoherent noise of appreciation, running her hands reverently over her old baby, her truck.

_Ugh, it's so gorgeous_, she thought excitedly. _Holy crap, I can't believe they did this! That was not just 'fixing it up!' No wonder it took so long! Damn it was so worth the wait though…_

"Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I freaking love it!" Bella exclaimed, and then squealed and threw her arms around Alice's neck. "But you knew I would, didn't you?" she grinned and drew back to see Alice smirking cutely, her golden eyes twinkling. She'd downed four more bottles before telling Bella she was ready to go again.

She wouldn't admit it, but claiming Bella had tested her control probably far more than anything else before besides when Bella had bitten her, as demonstrated by the fact that she'd had to hang her head out the window for five minutes to recoup when she never did that the other times they had sex.

"Well, _duh_," Alice drawled, and Bella peppered her mouth with quick, chaste kisses.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. It's awesome. _You're_ awesome. I love it, and I love _you_."

"Whoa, easy Tiger. Don't go getting me all worked up again," Alice joked, and gave her an Eskimo kiss anyway. "Besides, most of it was Emmett. I picked out the color scheme and design, and he put it all together. Still, I thought you might want to take your truck instead of the Lambo. Apparently he left the stupid keys in the glove box, which was _not_ what we agreed on, but whatever."

They took Bella's truck.

By the time they pulled into the parking lot of Forks High School, with Bella's truck purring like a pampered house cat instead of coughing and sputtering like an old man on his last leg, they were a little late.

Only by thirty minutes. Alice called that fashionably late, anyway.

The moment they stepped foot into the prom, they got swamped. Bella barely got to admire the massive tents they'd put up and all the glimmering lights hung up to make the place glow even in the dead of night when her friends were on her.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Angela cried the moment she spotted them walking onto the quad.

"You guys are so late!" Mike and Eric complained.

"Never mind that, get the hell out here and get to dancing!" Jessica demanded, and Bella and Alice could only share a surprised look before they were pulled, giggling onto the dance floor that had been laid out temporarily on the grass of the quad.

From then on there, they danced. It was actually really, really fun. Bella realized quickly it didn't matter that she couldn't really dance. She could move her hips okay, and follow the beat, at least better than Mike and Eric who flailed around to their girlfriends' embarrassment and dismay. All that mattered was that song after bass thumping song, they had fun. Bella's friends fearlessly pulled her into the fray of messy, sweating bodies, and they bumped and grinded and laughed and twirled, and alright.

It was _fun_.

It was really, really fun. Some moments more than others. Once Bella spotted a few dirty looks from Cassie and her crew, but they didn't start anything, and she really just didn't give a fuck what they were plotting. The Cullens would ward off any attempts for tonight at least, so Bella wasn't worried about them trying anything. She was going to dance with her girlfriend, and everyone else could suck on that.

It was hard to care with Alice's ass pressed back into her when they started grinding, playfully at first, and then saucily, until their friends whistled and cat called so much that they laughed and broke apart, even though it got Bella's heart racing. They got them back when Jessica and Angela started grinding on their respective boyfriends, and then everyone gave up on the concept of grinding all together.

Alice's little ballerina hips could really get going when she wanted them to. She was a phenomenal dancer, and didn't seem to care that Bella was average at best. She still slid up against her, turned her on, danced away and then started doing classics like the Running Man and the Sprinkler just to make her laugh like an idiot.

It was especially funny when the rest of the Cullens found them and joined in on the fun. Bella was thankful that none of them acknowledged Alice's scent all over her other than to keep a respectful distance at all times that they'd never given before, and she had to ignore Rosalie's smirk and Emmett's winking.

Rosalie and Emmett were shameless, and incredibly good dancers. They ground against each other all they wanted, and didn't care if anyone stared, and of course everyone did, casting jealous looks at Bella and her friends for being able to be in the presence of the most beautiful people in the school. (Rosalie made Angela and Jessica's night when she let Emmett dance with them, and made Mike and Eric's when she danced with them herself. She really wasn't _that_ mean, honestly. Once you got to know her.)

At one point Bella had a profound longing to be able to claim Alice like Alice claimed her when she saw all the admiring and lustful looks Alice got from boys and girls alike.

Okay.

Like, no.

_No touchy. No looky, either. I am hers, and she is most definitely mine. So back the hell up_, Bella thought, glaring at anyone who looked at Alice like a piece of meat. So that was mostly everyone with an inclination towards the female sex.

Having a beautiful, sexy girlfriend was nice until everyone started wanting to take her away from you. Now Bella really appreciated how Alice felt, and Alice's jealousy was amplified. Bella totally understood it then.

She got over it though. It was hard not to do anything but have a good time with the Cullens around.

All the Cullens were good dancers, including the outsider Tanya, but they only got to see that when Edward actually got on the dance floor, which was only during the slow songs. He refused during anything else, but the horrified look on his face when Emmett grabbed him by the hips and jokingly attempted to grind with him was hilarious.

It was after one of these slow songs, when she and Alice were wrapped in each other's arms, just kind of swaying peacefully together as everyone else did, that something else interesting happened.

The song ended, which disappointed Bella deeply. As fun as it was to get a total work out and dance her ass off with Alice, it was supremely nice and romantic to sway to those rare slow songs, and just bask in each other. This one would probably be one of the last, because the night was almost over.

"Hey, baby doll. You look pretty worn out," Alice said lovingly when they broke apart, ignoring any wayward stares.

"I am," Bella admitted, exhausted from all the night's activities. Alice claiming her had sapped a lot of her energy in the beginning, and her friends had nabbed the rest.

"Why don't you go sit down, and I'll get you a drink?" Alice suggested sweetly.

"Sure. Preferably one that's not spiked," Bella said, only half kidding, not resisting because her feet were killing her.

Yeah. Taking a break right now sounded good.

"Water it is then," Alice chuckled, led her to a nearby table, kissed her cheek, and darted off.

Bella sighed as she watched her go. It was a lovesick sort of sigh, and she knew she was wearing that gooey look her friends always talked about, and she didn't care.

_I really love that girl_, she thought fondly, fingering the corsage Alice had placed on her wrist before they left the house. She'd gotten one for Alice too, but it was nowhere near as nice. Alice loved it anyway.

"Wow," a voice behind Bella said. "You okay, Swan?"

Bella looked up to see none other than Leah Clearwater standing at her table, looking awkward and beautiful.

Surprised, Bella took her in quickly, the copper skin, the pretty almond eyes, the glossy black hair pulled up in an elegant but wild looking style, the sleeveless curve hugging tiny black dress that showed off all the toned muscles of her arms and legs.

Well then.

_What does she want?_ Bella thought warily, not having talk to Leah since the milk flinging incident. Over the course of the past month, Leah had avoided her, and she had avoided Leah. They seemed to have come to a silent agreement that all friendship was off, but still, sometimes Bella caught Leah watching her in the halls or in the classrooms. She didn't _seem_ to be pining, but then why else was she looking?

This was not what Bella needed tonight. She really didn't want Leah to ruin what was turning out to be a really fantastic night. She _needed_ this good night after all the sleepless ones she had worrying about the Volturi.

"Um, yeah. Why?" she replied awkwardly, out of a naturally inclined politeness.

"If you looked any more lovesick, I swear you'd be puking," Leah stated, shifting on her feet.

She was kidding, and Bella managed a weak smile for civility's sake, but she was still confused and wary as all hell.

"Or maybe that would be me," Leah drawled, and looked entirely uncomfortable. "It would help if you didn't _reek_."

Bella's eyes narrowed, and Leah made a face and immediately tried to backpedal.

"Okay, shit, this is not going how I planned," Leah groaned and rubbed at the back of her neck. "I didn't mean it to sound so bad. I just meant-You know, I could smell Pixie Sticks all over you from half a mile away."

Bella blinked in surprise. Was Leah _blushing_? Leah never blushed. And she was floundering wildly, and starting to babble.

_And how can she smell Alice on me? _

Oh right. The whole werewolf thing. Bella still wasn't all too sure about that nonsense.

"God, I'm sorry. I'm _sorry_. That's what I came over to say," Leah finally blurted, looking ruffled, though Bella didn't know why she was so nervous.

"You're sorry?" Bella said slowly, perplexed now.

_What is she trying to get at? And she better hurry up before Alice gets back! She still wants to gouge her eyes out._

"Yeah," Leah repeated, avoiding her eyes. "I was a dick to you, and I'm sorry. I never meant to be. I'm really not like that. It's just…Well. You know."

"What do I know, Leah?" Bella inquired uncertainly, looking around nervously for her very protective vampire girlfriend.

She wasn't sure how she felt about this apology, but naturally, she appreciated the thought at the very least. She met Leah's eyes again and saw how uncomfortable this was making her, and that let her know that it was sincere.

Leah really did feel bad. That's why she was so nervous. It definitely wasn't Alice. Leah wasn't afraid of jack shit, let alone 'Pixie Sticks', she was just…Ashamed.

"That we're werewolves," Leah said, tilting her head slightly. "I know I told you, and I know your bloodsuckers-er, _vampires_ told you it was true. They did, didn't they?"

"Yes."

Why all of this was relevant, she had no idea. Leah was really blatant about what they were, too. Like she didn't care. It was the complete opposite when it came to the Cullens, and Bella wondered why she was so flippant about the fact that she and her La Push friends were a bunch of shape shifters.

"Okay, well, um…It messes with us sometimes. I didn't mean to blow up like that. I'm not like that. Our tempers-They're really nasty. The changing does it to us, and we can't control it completely until we're more experienced. And I was having a bad day, and then you said all that stuff to me, and I'm really just a dick, okay? So I wanted to apologize. That was all," Leah rambled, gesturing with her hands and barely meeting Bella's eyes when she talked.

Something about the way she spoke ignited the bleeding heart in Bella, and she softened as she saw that Leah really meant it.

She hadn't known all that, she couldn't really verify the truth of it, but for a moment, she felt as if she were being really harsh and formal with Leah unfairly. Yes, it had been a shitty thing to do, but if there was truth to Leah's words…And she did look genuinely remorseful.

It's not like Leah was a bitch or anything. She was actually really cool, and chill, and nothing like what Bella had seen that day in the cafeteria. Her words made sense, and she'd been a good friend up until that point. Bella had missed their friendship a little, too. But still…

There was always Alice.

Who was lurking somewhere, about to come back with her drink.

"It's fine, Leah," Bella waved her off, meaning it. "It's really no big deal. No use crying over spilled milk, right?"

Leah smirked a little at her pun, and then it was gone to be replaced by an expression that Bella could only describe as…Not bitter, really, but resigned.

"Right. Well…That was all. I know we can't be friends or anything, and I wasn't aiming for that anyway really. I just wanted to apologize. It was cool getting to know you for a while though, Bella. Sorry again. And I should dash before your girlfriend catches me lingering. I'm sure she wants to do a whole lot more than cry at me over that spilled milk."

Bella and Leah both hesitated, Bella wanting to say something though she didn't know what, and Leah on the verge of leaving. Then Leah spoke again.

"And if you ever need help with something, anything, you can come to me. I know you won't want to now, but…If something ever happens, I'm around. I regret fucking things up with you, and I don't mean any of that romantic shit. Just our friendship. All I'm saying is…Yeah. I'm around if you ever need help. Okay. Bye."

Bella didn't even get a chance to respond before Leah gave her a slight jerk of the head, turned on her heel, and slipped away. Watching her go, Bella felt her chest tighten, and she didn't know why, but a strong feeling of compassion overcame her as she saw the slight hunch in Leah's shoulders, the way her smile didn't quite reach her eyes when Jake clapped her on the back and pulled her back into the group they had going.

Bella felt a soft spot form for Leah and she didn't know why. She just seemed so-

"What did _she_ want?"

Bella stood immediately at the sound of her girlfriend's voice, heart skipping a beat.

"Alice!" Bella yelped, and hated the way her voice sounded so guilty.

Alice didn't say anything, but her face was very stony and she was staring past Bella at Leah and her group. So far tonight the two groups hadn't crossed paths, probably deliberately, and Bella rushed to do damage control.

"Alice," Bella repeated, softer, and Alice turned back to her. When the vampire saw her expression, she softened, and her shoulders slumped a little. Alice took a deep breath, handed her the water bottle she seemed to have crushed just slightly in her hand and asked again, gentler.

"What did she want?"

"She was apologizing," Bella told her, taking a grateful gulp, and then stepping forward to drape her arms over Alice's shoulders, leaving no room for Alice's instincts to flare at all. It probably helped that when Alice's nostrils flared, she smelled herself all over Bella. It also probably helped that Alice was good if at nothing else than controlling her vampiric side.

At least for Bella's sake.

"And what did you say?" Alice murmured. Her eyes had darkened again from prom, and Bella knew that it was a good thing that she drank again before they left the house.

"I forgave her," Bella said honestly.

"Of course you did," Alice sighed, and Bella could tell that she wanted to say more, a whole lot more on the subject of Leah Clearwater and what she really thought about all this, but that she was holding back for Bella.

This would not be the last of it. They would undoubtedly talk about it later, at some other time. But the night was so sweet, had been so good, and neither of them wanted to spoil it.

"You know what?" Alice mumbled, dipping forward on the tips of her toes, so their eyes hovered close together.

"What?" Bella whispered, mesmerized by all the lights sparkling and reflecting in Alice's big beautiful eyes.

"I'm glad you did," Alice said against her lips, so close to kissing her, but just not.

"Really? Why?" Bella furrowed her brow, pulling back a bit.

"Oh, I don't know. I really don't like her, but it's kind of hard to hate someone who is literally the epitome of a kicked puppy," Alice sighed dramatically, and grinned her nose crinkling grin when Bella laughed.

She was surprised that Alice would express something other than absolute loathing for Leah Clearwater, but then she'd also been surprised when Alice expressed absolute loathing for anyone at all.

"You think you're so punny, don't you?" Bella smirked at her own pun, and Alice giggled.

"Yep. And you know what else?"

"What?"

"I love you," Alice said, and kissed her on the lips.

Bella swooned, and they held it softly, until the DJ called out that this would be the last song of the prom, and they broke apart to go and dance the last of the night away.

* * *

Alice got her back home late that night. At about 11:30, Bella pulled into her driveway and parked, and Alice, naturally, walked her to her door. It was a good thing Charlie worked the late shift tonight, because it took them a ridiculously long time to actually say goodbye. They ended up kissing, and then making out against the door, and then just holding each other for a long time, until finally Alice had to break away.

Alice needed to hunt desperately, despite all the blood she'd consumed tonight. Grinding on Bella at prom and being around all those excited humans with their blood pumping all night had taken a toll on her, but she promised to come back afterwards.

Bella hated to see her go, but she knew she had to. So they finally kissed one last time, and then Alice gave her one last fond, adoring look, and took off into the night.

Bella reluctantly turned away from where she disappeared, went to her house and shut the door behind her. She sighed and slumped against the door, and then she smiled, buried her face into her hands, and squealed.

Just a little.

She shook herself out of it, but wow, this had been a much better night than she'd thought. She was so glad she'd gone to prom now. She wanted to go upstairs and pass out, sleep for days because she was exhausted, but it was a good kind of exhausted.

But she had to get a shower and wash away the grime and sweat and…None of Alice's scent would be coming off, not for a good long while, the vampire had told her. But she liked that. She couldn't smell it herself, but she admitted that she liked the thought that it was there, telling anyone who could scent it that she and Alice loved each other.

After she showered and changed, Bella was sleepily pouring herself a glass of water in the kitchen when the doorbell rang.

She smiled to herself.

_Alice. _

_That was fast_, she thought and set the glass on the table, trotting to the front door with a beam on her face. It had only been about an hour since Alice left. Usually it took her at least three when she was hunting. Maybe she didn't need to feed as much since she'd already drank so much, and that's why it didn't take as long as usual.

But who was complaining? Not Bella. If Alice was here, that meant she could go to sleep instead of waiting up for her, and they could snuggle up together, and that sounded like the best thing in the world right now.

"Back already?" Bella laughed as she pulled the door open to see a fully hunted and restored vampire standing on her front porch.

"Yep. Did you miss me?" Victoria smiled a feral smile, blood red eyes gleaming as she stepped into the house, causing Bella to stumble back in dumbfounded shock.

Victoria kicked the door shut behind her, and as soft as the lock was when it clicked into place between her fingers, to Bella, it sounded like a gunshot.

Bella had the bad feeling this was going to be one bullet she just couldn't dodge.

* * *

_***whistles innocently* **_


End file.
